


Wild Ones

by SKayLanphear



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blood and Injury, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Jily - Freeform, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Eventual Wolfstar - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Pranks, Slow Burn, Swearing, Very Very Slow Burn, canon divergent where i see fit, like developing over years slow burn, year one onward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:27:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26827336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SKayLanphear/pseuds/SKayLanphear
Summary: Heading to Hogwarts for the first time, Remus tries not to let his worries get him down. He has a lot on his plate--secrets he can’t tell anyone about--and none of it is helped by the bullies constantly casting jinxes and calling him nasty names. Despite it all, though, he has his three best friends. Together, they stubbornly face every challenge, determined to stick together no matter the forces trying to pry them apart.A story about the Marauders as they navigate their school years and set off into adulthood. Starts in Year One of Hogwarts.Sunday Night Updates (all 25 chapters of Year One are completed and will be posted regularly)
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 62
Kudos: 110





	1. Year One

**Author's Note:**

> JK Rowling Disclaimer:
> 
> I want to say first and foremost that I do not support or agree with JK Rowling’s problematic views on the trans community. I reread the Harry Potter books last year and wrote this fic on a kick of inspiration, but because I was intimidated by the fandom, I never posted it. Instead, it sat on my computer while I moved on to other things. I’ve never been part of the Harry Potter fandom, I don’t know how it works or how creators in the fandom are feeling at this time. I’ve talked to a few different sources on my end as far as whether or not I should bother posting this story at all and the consensus seems to be that I should since I did pour hours and hours and hours of work into this 100k+ fic. I DO NOT encourage the idea of supporting Rowling monetarily, however—this includes her books, merch, the new game, etc… Fic is free, so I recommend reading that for your Harry Potter needs instead. Besides, there are plenty of writers like myself that are happy and willing to take her characters and turn them into things she’d probably disapprove of, so all the better.
> 
> BUT if you’re readers of my other fics and don’t want to read anything related to Harry Potter, please know that I don’t take that personally and encourage you to stay as far away from the subject as you need. I’m not offended by it and completely understand where you’re coming from. 
> 
> I'm an American Disclaimer:
> 
> As is says above, I'm an American, so my prose is not going to be entirely accurate to British terminology. Some of it will be, some of it will be wrong, some of it will be American. I'm trying, but also not trying that hard, so you can tell me if I mess something up, but also it's a mystery if I'll bother to change it. You do you, I'll do what I want, let's all have a good time.

**REMUS LUPIN**

"Now, remember, you can't tell anyone," his mother was saying, with far more delicacy than his father had managed since Dumbledore had made a personal visit to their home. She said it like it was a secret between the two of them, not as though Remus needed the warning. Which he didn't. "Headmaster Dumbledore has everything set up for you, and has arranged for you to meet with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing after classes tomorrow."

"I know," Remus muttered, trying not to sound too entirely nervous, which made him appear a bit sulkier than he would have liked.

"You've got everything, have you?" his mother asked, reaching up to straighten his new school robes. Well, they weren't "new" new. They were used, but in "good condition." Remus' "problem" had required a great many moves and new jobs for both his parents, and so they'd never had much in the way of stability. This, as it would turn out, resulted in fewer funds, thus Remus had acquired all his school things second-hand.

"Haven't I?" Remus asked, his nerves finally beginning to break through. After all, how was he supposed to know? He'd never attended school before. He'd never even been away from his parents for longer than—than—than a _day_ , at most. Or a night, however one wanted to look at it.

"You're quite set to go," his father assured strictly.

"But what if I'm not?" Remus asked, glancing up to look between his parents. Around them, heavy clouds wafted from the Hogwarts Express, while children of all ages milled and shouted about, some in their robes already—like Remus—others not. They'd already loaded his trunk and other belongings, leaving him with only a backpack, his new wand, and some food for the trip. "Maybe I shouldn't go," he started, reaching out and taking hold of his mother's sleeve. "Maybe it is better if I stay with you. I've never done this sort of thing before, or made friends, or anything. And I'm—I'm—"

"Now, listen," his father said gently as he bent down on his knee in front of him. He set his long, thin hands on Remus' shoulders. "Albus Dumbledore has guaranteed that everything is set up for you—you needn't worry. Students attending Hogwarts come from all over the country, so everyone will be wanting new friends, same as you. You're smart and clever—you'll fair just fine."

"And if you ever need to talk to us, the headmaster has assured that you can go to his office and use his floo to get in touch," his mother assured.

"And we'll send you letters every week," his father finished.

Swallowing hard, Remus nodded. Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing—as he'd learned to do when he was nervous—and calmed himself in much the same fashion as he always did before a full moon. This couldn't be worse than that. No pain came with going to Hogwarts (hopefully) and he wasn't about to be locked up in a dark room all by himself.

He could do this. He was made of strong enough stuff to take it, like his mum always said.

Opening his eyes, he set his jaw and nodded. "Okay," he decided. "Alright. Okay."

Smiling, his father nodded before pulling him in for a brief hug, one that was followed up by his mum, who held him a bit tighter and sniffed against the tears threatening to leave her in a "right state," as his father tended to say. His father didn't look much better, though, his own breath shaky and face pale as he stared down at his only son.

Remus decided he needed to be brave for both of them.

"You're right," he said with forced determination. "I'll go and make lots of friends and do well in all my classes, I promise. And maybe I'll even be in Ravenclaw, like you were." He was speaking directly to his father, as his mother wasn't magic. A "muggle," though that word wasn't much used around their house. Didn't sound right, his father said.

"Whatever house you end up in, we'll be proud," his father assured. "Though you're definitely more than clever enough for Ravenclaw." He smiled—an expression that was thin and strained, but doing its best to be supportive.

Sharing in another round of hugs, Remus finally stepped back. Holding tight to the strap of his bag, he turned his head over his shoulder to watch his parents the whole time as he boarded the train. He would have liked to have watched them even a bit longer than that, but the general hustle and bustle forced him to shuffle along.

He realized very quickly—despite the fact that the train hadn't even left yet—that he was very much on his own now. The idea was a bit terrifying, as he'd never been on his own before, but again he thought of how much worse he knew life could be and reminded himself that this was not, in fact, torture.

He knew torture. Quite intimately.

Huffing, he resituated his bag on his shoulder and started forward down the aisle, supposing he ought to find a place to sit. Which was quite the task, as most of the students looked well-versed in who they were sitting with and where, and he was eventually shuffled off to a section of the train where a few other smaller kids were standing about aimlessly.

Must be other first years.

Continuing to twist his bag strap in his hands, he peered into one of the nearby compartments only to see it was full and chatty—definitely not his forte. Continuing on, he looked and looked, but none of the compartments were all that welcoming. They were either too loud or too crowded or not crowded enough or full of glares warning him to go elsewhere. He was the only one standing in the aisle by the time the train shuddered into motion, and he cursed his lousy luck.

Looking frantically up and down the aisle, he eventually decided he'd just have to duck inside whatever compartment was nearest or risk looking like some kind of pariah loitering outside the whole time.

"C'mon, let's go." The disgruntled voice drew Remus' attention some ways down the carriage, where he watched as a redheaded girl stepped out of a compartment, looking annoyed. She was followed by a slim, greasy haired boy with a large nose, the both of them glaring back inside the compartment before moving on further down.

Remus watched them for a second before coming to the conclusion that if they were vacating a compartment, then there was certainly room for him in the space left behind. He was a little apprehensive, as neither the girl nor the boy had looked at all pleased upon leaving, but so long as he could find a seat, he figured he could handle what came with it.

Approaching the door, which was still half open, he looked in to see that only two other boys were inside, both of them snorting with laughter from where they were sitting across from one another by the window.

They were both black-haired and thin, though that was where the similarities ended. The one on the left had darker skin, big square glasses, and his short hair was sticking up all over. He had friendly, open features, and dirt under his fingernails.

The other boy was pale, gray-eyed, and his black hair was cut sharply along his jaw. He had a pinched quality about his face, which was in stark contradiction to his wide, snickering smile.

Neither of them were wearing their robes, the one on the left sporting a brightly striped quidditch shirt and jeans, while the one on the right was decked out in a fancy suit jacket and matching slacks.

"'Scuse me," Remus said quietly, his voice causing them to whip around on him. "Mind if I sit with you?"

They both gaped at him for a second, before the one with glasses released a thousand-watt smile. "'Course not!" he said loudly and reached out to pat the seat beside him.

Offering a weak sort of smile, Remus stepped inside and sat very tentatively beside the other boy. With plenty of space between them still, of course.

"You really old enough to be here?" the boy on the right asked, slouching some and wrinkling his suit.

Remus managed a slight glare. "Yes, of course. Otherwise I wouldn't be, naturally." He knew he was small for his age, and very, very skinny, but one needn't bring it up.

"Don't be a prat," the darker boy said, and kicked the other one in the foot before turning back to Remus. "I'm James," he said, holding out his hand. Remus hesitated only a second before shaking it. "And this here is Sirius."

"Sirius _Black_ ," the other boy said, sounding quite snotty about it.

"I'm Remus," Remus muttered.

"Where'd you get all those scars from?" Sirius asked, which of course had Remus going a very deep shade of red. While he did his best to hide his scarring, he couldn't very well do anything about his face, other then let his mousy brown curls cover up as much of it as possible.

"You can't just ask people that, Sirius," James said, sounding very much like maybe his mother would have said something similar. "It's rude."

"I'm just curious!" Sirius defended haughtily. "We should probably know if the boy we're sitting with is in a gang."

"A gang?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, you know, like in murder mysteries and stuff," Sirius explained excitedly. "With knives and guns and _blood_!" He was waving his arms around, pretending to brandish weapons of his own.

Remus curled his nose. "You're the one wearing a suit," he countered. "Like you're in the mafia or something."

James laughed stupidly.

"I'm a _Black_ ," Sirius said, as if that should mean something.

"Is that a mafia boss family?"

"No!"

Remus shrugged.

"You know, the Blacks?" Sirius said. "The Black family? Purebloods and stuff?"

Remus curled his nose a little higher. "Oh…"

"Oh? _Oh_?!" Sirius was offended. "What's that mean?!"

"Nothin.'" Remus shrugged again, before deciding that maybe he could add just a little bit more. This boy was rather annoying—someone ought to set him straight. "My dad says that pureblood families will be the downfall of the wizarding world," he dared say, sporting his own degree of haughtiness. "That they're bad examples, marrying their cousins and hating none-magic folk and such all the time."

Both James and Sirius were gaping.

Remus shrugged for a third time. He sort of expected some kind of volatile rebuke, or to be kicked out like that other boy and girl had been. Instead, James just managed to look a bit confused while Sirius huffed and leaned back into a slump.

"Well, I guess that's sort of true," Sirius agreed, taking Remus wholly by surprise. "My parents are cousins."

James gaped in horror. "Really?!"

"Yeah…" It was Sirius' turn to look confused. "Is that bad?"

James and Remus shared a Look, but decided not to comment further.

"Well, not all purebloods are like that," James carried on. "My family are purebloods, but they like muggles well enough. And they're _not_ cousins."

Sirius frowned.

"My mum's a… muggle," Remus said, not much liking the word as it rolled off his tongue.

Sirius' eyes went round as saucers. Leaning forward, he stared at Remus like he was suddenly the most interesting sort of bug he'd ever seen. "A muggle? So you're a half-blood?"

"Uh, yes?"

"What's it like?" Sirius asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Living with a muggle?"

Remus had a feeling he'd be screwing up his nose a lot during the duration of this trip. "What-do-you-mean? She's my mum!"

"Well, yeah, but what's it like having a muggle mum?"

"I don't know. What's it like having a witch mum?"

"Bonkers, I tell you," Sirius reasoned, rolling his eyes. "My mum's right nasty half the time. Making me wear suits and talk all proper and telling me I shouldn't affiliate with muggle-borns and half-bloods and blood-traitors."

"But that's almost everybody," James pointed out.

"I know," Sirius countered.

"You're affiliating with me right now," Remus said.

"I _know_."

"My family are bordering on being blood-traitors," James said, sounding quite proud. "They're friends with the Weasleys _and_ the Prewetts." He raised his chin high, smiling all the while. Remus couldn't help smiling back.

"Ugh." Flopping back dramatically, the side of Sirius' face slid down the window. "The Weasleys and the Prewetts are the most blood-traitory you can get."

"Guess you can't hang around with us, huh," Remus dared to say, an evaluation that had James looking put-out.

Sirius snorted and grinned. "Please. What my mum doesn't know can't bother her too badly." Leaning forward quite suddenly, his manic energy returned. "She expects me to be making nice with all my cousins, but they're all so stuffy. Besides, I never do what she—"

A rather round, blonde-haired boy suddenly tripped into the compartment. Looking shaken, he slid the door closed and hunched down on the seat beside Sirius. The other three shared a few looks, silently waiting and watching as multiple shadows passed by their compartment, which in turn had their plump new addition releasing a sigh of relief.

"You alright?" James asked and the boy jumped.

"Oh, yeah," he said, placing a startled hand on his chest. "Th—Third years, they were, uh, they were…" He flushed and stared down at his feet.

"What?" James asked quite seriously.

"Just, um, I was…" He slumped a bit and finally gave in. "I was at the trolley and they started making fun of me."

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because—because I'm… They started calling me toad and—and other mean stuff like that."

"Sound like a bunch of bloody cunts to me," Remus said.

The other three boys gasped, both James and their new addition slapping their hands over their mouths. While Sirius eventually dropped into manic laughter.

"Cunts? _Cunts_?!" Sirius dared repeat, and laughed even louder.

"Don't say that so loud!" the blonde boy said nervously.

"Cunts," Sirius said again, quite as loud as before. Like he was trying the word out on his tongue.

Remus nodded solemnly. "Complete cunts."

"Cunts," James whispered, giggling some as well and slapping his hand over his mouth again.

"Stop!"

Sirius banged his fists on his knees. "Cunts! Cunts! Cunts! Cunts!"

Remus smiled, finally starting to feel a bit embarrassed. He wasn't supposed to say that sort of thing, strictly speaking (even though his father did rather often), but it'd seemed like the kind of word that would impress James and Sirius. He found he wanted quite badly to impress them.

"Oh no, oh no," the new boy cried through Sirius' continued chanting. " _Please_ stop!"

"Cunts! Cunts! Cunts! Cunts!" echoed around their compartment, James soon joining, his attempts initially starting out as a whisper. A whisper that grew louder and louder until they were very much shouting the word over and over again.

Doubling over, Remus couldn't help laughing, while the new boy looked all the more traumatized by the turn of events.

They were all very suddenly and sufficiently silenced, however, when the door to their compartment suddenly slammed open.

" _What_ … are you _doing_?" an older girl hissed viciously, a very shiny prefect badge pinned to her yellow and black robes.

"Uh…" Sirius didn't know what to say.

"We weren't doing anything," James blatantly lied.

"We were chanting chuds," Remus said quickly, having gone very pale. "You know, for the Chudley Cannons." Was that believable?

"Right!" James said too loudly. "Because quidditch!" He pointed to his shirt like it was evidence.

The girl glared. "I know exactly what you were saying," she said very threateningly and leveled a finger at them. "You start up again and you won't like what happens next."

They didn't know what sort of punishment she could dole out, but they very much believed her. All four of them quickly nodded, which satisfied her enough that she backed out and slid the door closed again.

Looking between each other, they soon started up with a smattering of nervous giggles. Even the new boy, who was once again holding his hand over his chest.

" _Cunts_ ," Sirius whispered one last time, and looked very satisfied about it.

"Hey, what's your name?" James asked, once attention had settled back onto the new boy.

"Um, P—Peter," he managed to stammer out.

Sirius stared at him very critically, arms crossing over his chest. "Are you a pureblood, a half-blood, a muggle-born, or a blood-traitor?"

A question that had the blonde boy looking fearful. Sirius' very severe stare didn't help much either.

"I—I don't—I don't know," he said, sinking back against the wall of the compartment. "Both my parents are w—wizards, but we're not pureblood. I don't—I don't think?"

"Are all wizards who're not pureblood or muggle-born, half-bloods?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged.

"Does it really _matter_?" Remus asked.

Sirius tapped his finger on his chin. "Does it matter?"

"No!" Remus rebuked. "I'm a half-blood and my dad says I'm clever enough to be in Ravenclaw. So…"

"Ravenclaw?" James reared back. "You can't be in Ravenclaw."

Remus' nose curled again and Sirius giggled at him. "Why not?"

"Because Gryffindor is the house we should all be in," James said simply.

"Fat chance," Sirius practically scoffed back. "All the Blacks have always been in Slytherin. Every. Single. One." He didn't sound particularly happy about it.

"Slytherin?" James was even more disgusted, if at all possible. "But Slytherin is the worst!"

"Hey!" Peter pouted. "My mum was in Slytherin. And—And my dad was a Hufflepuff."

"No, look—" James sounded incredibly exasperated as he leveled his hands out at them. "We all need to be Gryffindors. And definitely _not_ Slytherins. Gryffindor is the best house—it's about bravery and nerve and being chivalrous and—and—and having courage!"

"I'm not very courageous…" Peter muttered and fiddled with the bottom hem of his shirt.

"If we don't all get into the same house, then we can't keep being friends," James said simply, while Sirius nodded along gravely.

"Friends?" Remus murmured, surprised.

"Can't you have friends in different houses?" Peter asked.

"Well, I _guess_." James rolled his eyes. "But it won't be the same. If we're all in the same house, then we all get to stay together in the same dormitory. And I'm definitely a Gryffindor so all you guys need to be Gryffindors too."

"I don't think it's something we get to pick," Peter pointed out.

James was all the more annoyed as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Well, if you all put in a little effort."

"How so?" Remus asked.

"To be brave! And have guts!" he said passionately.

"I'm brave," Sirius said defensively. "But I'll probably be in Slytherin like the rest of my family."

"Well, with that kind of attitude…" James pouted.

"Is it hereditary or something?" Remus asked.

"Look, it doesn't matter!" James cut in. "We're all friends now and I'd only be friends with Gryffindors, so you all have to be Gryffindors. Don't you want to be?"

"What's wrong with the other houses, though?" Remus asked. He'd sort of wanted to be in Ravenclaw, like his dad…

"Nothing's _wrong_ with them," James explained. "Except Slytherin, of course," he looked pointedly at Sirius, "but they're not as great as Gryffindor."

"We don't get to decide, though, like Peter said," Sirius cut in. "The sorting hat decides."

"Ugh, you're all missing the point," James griped and slumped back.

"Even if we're not in the same houses, we can be friends still, right?" Peter asked, sounding about as hopeful as Remus felt.

"Maybe…" Sirius said quietly and stared down at his shiny black shoes. Remus was starting to think maybe they couldn't be, though he didn't understand why.

The door to their compartment slid open. "Hullo, dears!" said a friendly looking old witch. She was pushing the snack trolley, which was lined with all sorts of sweets.

Remus _loved_ sweets—especially chocolate—and the sight of so many flashy packages had him practically salivating at the mouth. Unfortunately, he didn't have much in the way of spending money and his parents had warned him to be very careful where he spent what he did have. Buying a load of sweets before he'd even reached Hogwarts didn't seem like a smart idea.

"Sirius?" James asked, prodding the other boy with his foot. But Sirius was staring out the window looking miserable and just shook his head.

"Um, I—I'll have, uh…" Peter pulled a bit of change from his pocket—not enough to really get much of anything. Even so, Remus was jealous. All he had were a couple sandwiches and some chips. Which were good, of course, but _not_ chocolate.

"We'll take four of everything," James announced suddenly, jumping forward and pulling a large stack of galleons from his pocket. Remus and Peter both gaped in shock, while Sirius finally turned back in startled interest.

To her credit, the trolley witch wasn't nearly so surprised, she and James spending a generous amount of time sorting out the proper number of snacks. Remus was eventually enlisted in helping to carry the load, standing at James' side as snacks were stacked into his arms. By the time the door was closed again—the trolley witch wheeling away—their compartment was practically glittering in shiny plastic wrappings.

Seemingly unbothered that James had spent so much money, Sirius was helping to sort through it all, grinning again as he and James went to work. Peter and Remus, on the other hand, could only watch, both sharing a rather uncertain look between one another. Peter was fiddling with the bottom hem of his shirt again, and Remus was caught twining his fingers together in his lap.

James eventually noticed—as far as he could notice such things—and went on to explain which pile was for who, shoving a great stack first in Remus' direction before Sirius did the same for Peter. They then went back to their sorting, not the least bit perturbed by any of it.

Peter, it seemed, was won over immediately, his light blue eyes absolutely sparkling as he stared at James, quite as though James had single-handedly fought off a dragon in his honor. He then dug in, grinning and talking readily back and forth with the other two, finally having set aside his nerves.

Remus, on the other hand, kept fiddling with his hands in his lap, staring at the sweets apprehensively. Sirius eventually barked his name, causing him to jump, and asked if he didn't like sweets "or something." Remus muttered that he did, supposing it'd be worse not to eat any of it. Content to listen to the other three chat, he started slowly in on his own designated pile.

The unease eventually dissipated, the four boys momentarily forgetting their disagreements over houses as they laughed and threw wrappers at one another and experimented with swear words under their breaths. Remus found himself laughing more than he ever had in his life, all of them eventually ending up on the floor as James produced a card deck ready and waiting for a game of exploding snap. This had them all laughing and shrieking for quite some time, until they'd leaned back in happy fatigue.

Peter mentioned that he had some gobstones in his bag, which revitalized James. The two of them moved closer together to play, James switching spots with Remus when it became clear he didn't have much interest. Neither did Sirius, it turned out, who was content for a little while with watching the landscape go by out the window. Thankful he wasn't the only that could appreciate some quiet, Remus pulled a book out of his bag and started reading.

"What's that?" Sirius asked after a few minutes, nudging Remus in the leg with the tip of his shoe.

"Um, just a… book," Remus muttered, finding himself red-faced again.

"I can see that much," Sirius said. "I mean, what book? It looks pretty, ah, hefty."

Dog-earing his page, Remus awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's a muggle book…"

"Really?" This only had Sirius more interested. "What's it about?"

"Um, like… magic and stuff. But not like our magic. Like—Like muggle ideas about magic. But also adventure and quests and—and elves and war and stuff like that." He tapped at the book cover self-consciously.

"That sounds great!"

Remus looked shyly up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah! I love adventure books! And mystery books. But my mum only lets me read books written by wizards."

"Oh, well, I like a lot of muggle books."

"Do you have any more?"

"Yeah, a few…" Remus admitted, chewing on his lip before going ahead and reaching into his bag again. "This is the first one in the same series," he explained as he handed the well-worn paperback over to Sirius, who grabbed at it eagerly.

" _The Fellowship of the Ring_ ," Sirius read out loud.

"It's a classic," Remus said quietly. Sirius was already flipping through the pages, looking so very interested. Which had Remus flushing red again. "You can borrow it, if you want. My mum got me the set last year, but I've read it a bunch of times already."

"What's this one about?" Sirius asked.

"Well, the stuff I said before," Remus explained. "But also, um, friendship and overcoming adversity and that sort of thing."

Sirius was flipping back to the beginning. "I'll try it out," he decided. Pulling his legs up onto his seat, he placed the book against his knees and started reading. Or so Remus assumed he did. He watched him for a couple seconds longer, before returning to his own book. They passed some few hours this way, Sirius and Remus quiet while James and Peter laughed about their gobstones game.

Eventually, it was James who interrupted them, bouncing up on the seat beside Remus and peering over his shoulder.

"Are you reading a book without pictures?" he asked skeptically. "Wow, all those words…"

"I like reading," Remus said quickly, feeling less self-conscious since Sirius apparently also liked to read.

"I get _so_ bored with books," James admitted. "Don't your eyes get tired, staring at all those tiny words for so long?"

"I mean, sometimes, but then I just take a break."

"I can only read for a few hours before I have to stop," Sirius interjected. "I mostly do it before I go to bed. My mum doesn't really think fiction books are worth spending much time on. Not when there's magic theory and family history and Latin to learn." He rolled his eyes and slumped.

Remus noted that he'd dog-eared his page in _The Fellowship of the Ring_. He'd made it a considerable way into the first section, which had Remus grinning some to himself.

"You had to learn Latin?" Peter asked.

"Our governess tried to teach us," Sirius corrected. "Can't say I really learned much."

"I'm glad my governess never made me learn Latin," James said.

"I don't think mine ever got that far with me," Peter admitted, sounding somewhat disheartened.

They all looked to Remus, who blinked as he tried to figure out what to say.

"My mum did my school stuff," he said quietly. "We moved around a lot, so…"

"Did she teach you muggle stuff?!" Sirius asked, gray eyes brightening.

"Is it muggle stuff?" Remus asked. "She taught me literature and basic maths and science and—"

"Science?!" Sirius was leaning forward intently. "What kind of science?!"

Blinking, Remus configured his thoughts before doing his best to explain. Which only got him more questions from all of them. About volcanoes and tectonic plates and how weather worked and all sorts of things he hadn't realized wizard children weren't taught. He even promised Sirius that he'd have his mum send all his old science texts on over to them, which practically had the other boy vibrating atop his seat.

They soon returned to good-natured laughter and fun conversation, passing the hours as the sun shifted through the sky outside the window. The trip passed rather quickly, all in all, and Remus was genuinely surprised when another prefect came by and reminded them that they needed to change into their robes, that they'd be arriving within the hour.

This sparked a new wave of excitement, Remus watching as the other three reached into their respective bags and started pulling out their standard jumpers, slacks, ties, and robes. Shimmying out of their regular clothes, it took only a few minutes for them to be dressed nearly identically to Remus, Sirius looking the happiest of all as he and James compared the final result of their transformations.

Remus found himself very much aware of the fact that his robes were used. The other three had each unfolded brand new outfits. No little fraying threads or fuzzies on their jumpers. Perfect creases in their pants and vibrant silk ties. Watching left a torturous little pit in Remus' stomach, their differences bringing back their earlier conversation about houses and being separated. It'd only been some seven or eight hours since they'd all met, but that chunk of time was suddenly much more important than it had been before it'd been spent.

Remus had never had friends before and while he hadn't known these three very long, he felt himself quite attached. Or maybe it was just the idea of friends, he wasn't sure. It was hard to say, really, but he was uneasy nonetheless. James and Sirius, they were confident, charismatic types—the kinds of friends Remus had always wanted, but never thought he'd get. And Peter was quieter, like him, which made him feel a little easier about the whole thing. But even so, without anything tying them together, could they really stay friends?

It seemed unlikely. Certainly they'd all forget about him…

"What's wrong, Remus?" James asked, tipping his head nearly upside-down as he looked at him. His glasses almost fell off.

"Oh, uh…" Remus fidgeted as all attention fell heavily upon him. "I'm just nervous about arriving, that's all."

"I'm excited!" Sirius said with a broad smile. He looked far less pinched out of his stuffy suit. A little friendlier, maybe. "My cousins all say the castle is huge! And first years get to ride in boats across the lake!"

Remus was happy to let them move on from him, a sad smile on his face as he listened. Their arrival came upon them faster than he would have liked, the night having turned nearly dark as they trooped out of the train together. James and Sirius vibrated side by side in front, Peter trailing along at James' elbow. Remus strayed a bit, already feeling somewhat left behind.

They were greeted by a large man with a bushy black beard and friendly eyes. Remus had never seen someone so large in his life, nor had most anyone else, and they stared a bit more than they probably should have. He was big enough to follow to the boats without issue and helped get them all sorted out. Once again, Remus feared being left behind, but James reached out for him at the last second and made sure the four of them ended up in a boat together. James and Sirius sat in the front, Remus and Peter in the back. They floated slowly along with the other first years, who were all equally awed as they came upon the elegant turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle, well-lit against the darkness of evening.

They made landing at the base, all of them following along in a great group as Hagrid—the bushy haired, giant man—led them up and into the castle. It was here that he left them, Remus feeling acutely jostled as they made their way into a great entrance hall. Here, a tall witch in velvet green robes and a matching hat waited, her pointed, severe countenance leaving all quite silent.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she started, looking at each and every one of them as she surveyed the group through her shrewd gaze. "I am Professor McGonagall. Beyond these doors," huge, ornate doors rising up before them, "is the Great Hall. It is here—before the feast begins—that you'll all be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff."

Remus suddenly found his arm clutched tight in James' hand. Glancing down in surprise, he barely heard as Professor McGonagall continued speaking, so taken aback was he by James. In his other hand he was holding tight to Sirius' arm, as if keeping them close would somehow solidify their house placement.

Remus found himself even more nervous.

"Now, line up and we'll head inside," McGonagall finished.

"We have to stay together," James whispered fiercely, again as though that would somehow make a difference. Remus didn't understand his logic, but was oddly appreciative nonetheless.

"Grab my shoulders," James issued as he jumped into line, leading their ragtag gang. Finding himself somewhat frazzled by the whole ordeal, Remus was nearly shoved out by other chatting first years. It was only Sirius grabbing him and yanking him back that saved him. He stumbled into line behind Peter, who had reached up and placed his hands on James' shoulders, just as he'd been ordered.

Still flustered, Remus twitched in place, once again stumbling as the line surged forward. It was Sirius who reached up behind him, grabbed his wrists, and lifted them until his hands rested firmly on Peter's shoulders. He then placed his own hands on Remus' shoulders as they marched in through the swinging double doors, Remus far too distracted with everything opening up before him to care whether the four of them looked entirely silly or not.

The Great Hall was huge, four tables—one for each house—pulling away as they walked along the back wall and then up the center aisle. The ceiling was bewitched to match the night sky, as Remus had known it would be. The entire room was lined with candles and chatting students already seated for the eventual feast.

At the head of the room, awaiting them, was a podium and another long table, behind which sat a great many adults. Remus recognized Headmaster Dumbledore as they moved up, who he almost thought nodded and smiled his way as they fanned out before the podium.

His nerves were so tight and fluttering that he hardly heard the announcements about the sorting, nor did he do more that trip over his own feet as James pulled them up and then linked his arms through Peter's on one side and Remus' on the other. Sirius linked up on Remus' other side, which was oddly comforting. Being forcefully sandwiched between the two taller boys eased his nerves some, even as Sirius trembled beside him. Turning to look up at him, he noted that he was very pale and tight-lipped.

Remus pulled him a bit closer, before turning to look up at James.

He was quite calm and straight-faced by comparison, looking more as though he was headed into battle than anything else. He even met McGonagall's eye as she turned to them, a single eyebrow rising up beneath the brim of her hat as she surveyed the four of them, all attached like little black leeches.

Remus thought maybe her lips quirked in amusement, but much like Dumbledore's nod, he wasn't confident enough to be sure.

The sorting started before Remus had even realized, shock dropping through his system as the first student was called up to sit on the stool ahead of the podium, before a big, wrinkly hat with a drooping point was dropped atop their head. The girl had a great bush of black hair, which stopped the hat from dropping too far, and she was soon sorted into Hufflepuff. A great cacophony of cheers followed her sorting—all from the table decked out in black and yellow—and Remus jumped some at the noise. Beside him, Sirius did much the same, looking now like he could be sick.

A few more students were called up and appropriately sorted, all of them met with the same kind of cheering from their specified houses.

"Black, Sirius," McGonagall called next, a light whimper echoing from Sirius' throat as Remus, James, and Peter looked his way. Taking a second to steady himself, he stiffly pulled himself free of Remus before shuffling his way to the front of the group. Climbing the stairs, he glanced back quickly at their little group, which earned him a confident nod from James.

Shaking like a leaf, he managed to place himself upon the stool. The usual hush fell over the room, but unlike previously, this quiet was prematurely interrupted by a few slow, dignified claps from the Slytherin table. Sirius looked that way very quickly, as McGonagall raised the hat up over his head, before his terrified gaze tripped back to his new posse of friends.

Trying to be brave, Remus nodded in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

The hat was placed atop his head, falling so far that it nearly covered his eyes.

The whole room waited. Waited and waited as the hat deliberated, the seconds passing in stride with Remus' heavy heartbeats. He heard a few other students whispering behind them—"Another Black, huh? Guess we know where _he's_ headed."—and even some of the professors looked as if they knew exactly what was coming, having sat back in their seats to wait through what they all thought to be a very predictable sorting.

What had Sirius said? That no Black had ever been sorted outside of Slytherin?

Remus stared all the harder at Sirius, who grew more frantic the longer the sorting took, his gaze tripping back and forth from one side of the room to another.

In reality, the whole ordeal couldn't have taken more than a minute. But it felt an eternity.

Finally, the hat straightened up and opened its wrinkly mouth.

Sirius closed his eyes and cringed.

"Gryffindor!" the hat yelled.

The Slytherin table had already started clapping, their celebration cut abruptly short to be overtaken by gasps and gapes. While the Gryffindor table took a rather long moment to even realize what had happened, before the lot of them finally started clapping. There were no cheers, however, even the Gryffindors staring with opened-mouthed shock.

Sirius whipped around to look up at McGonagall with something crossed between tight relief and fear.

Even McGonagall was visibly surprised, her own thin lips parting beneath wide eyes. A few other professors were gaping quite stupidly, having leaned forward in their seats again. Only Dumbledore was wholly unperturbed, clapping delicately along with the Gryffindors.

It was James that broke the tension.

"Yeah!" He whooped, jumping and yanking Remus and Peter along with him. He was smiling wide, which inspired Sirius to grin a little himself, once he looked their way again.

Just like that, the room broke back into activity.

"Well, off you go, then, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall said, fluttering him off the chair as she removed the hat and gestured to the Gryffindor table, which was finally winding up with cheers.

Smiling a little wider, Sirius took a huffing breath and headed over. He was the first to be sorted into Gryffindor and was met with a great many back pats and congratulations. A large number of Gryffindors cast superior, arrogant glares across at the Slytherins, who were now quite outraged.

Remus, meanwhile, was really feeling the pressure now. James was certain _he'd_ get into Gryffindor and now Sirius was there too. Remus wanted, more than anything, to be with them, which left him scared and shaky all over again.

He tried to pay attention, but it was difficult. He noted that the red haired girl he'd seen on the train was sorted into Gryffindor as well, but aside from that, he was hardly able to keep track. Until, finally, McGonagall reached his own name.

"Lupin, Remus," she called steadily.

Looking up at James for support, Remus got a nod of confidence before he made the shaky trip up to the stool. Swallowing hard, he slid back up onto the seat and tried not to think about just how many eyes were now watching him.

He did glance quickly over at the Gryffindor table, noting that Sirius was standing up, watching very seriously despite being told to sit down out of the way.

Remus then looked back at James and Peter, but before he could gather any strength from the sight of them, the hat was dropped atop his head. It fell down past his eyes, blocking everything but the floor and his feet.

He nearly jumped when a voice whispered its way into his thoughts.

" _Hmm, very interesting,_ " the hat said to him. " _I've never sorted a mind quite like this one before. There's something else in here, isn't there, with you? What could it be, that shadow in the back of your thoughts? It's very close to breaking out now, isn't it? I can feel it._ "

Remus was only a few days away from the next full moon.

" _Ah, that's what it is,_ " the hat reasoned. " _Well, no matter. There's plenty more to contemplate here, in your head. You're very clever, very bright—very Ravenclaw, yes, like your father before you. But very animalistic, your thoughts. Perhaps all the more intelligent for it. Direct, to the point, but adventurous. Yes, very adventurous. And nerve! You've got nerve in spades, you do. Not much in here that you fear, other than the shadow. You don't even fear the pain, do you? No, no, of course not. That sort of thing, it either breaks a person or makes them brave, doesn't it? Yes, I would imagine it does. Very, very brave indeed. It takes a great deal of courage to be you, doesn't it, Little Lupin? More courage than most people could ever hope to possess, I'd warrant._

" _I suppose, in that case, that I know exactly where to put you._ "

The hat shifted atop Remus' head, his breath catching as he waited.

"Gryffindor!" the hat bellowed above him, Remus so relieved that he practically turned to jello atop the stool. He grinned, ashamed that he could feel tears pricking at the backs of his eyes as the hat was lifted off his head. He was greeted with the sight of James jumping up and down in excitement, while the Gryffindors yelled, whooped, and clapped.

Sliding off the stool, Remus hurried over to his new table, Sirius smiling wider than Remus' had yet seen as he sat down across from him.

"You did it!" Sirius shouted through the congratulations surrounding them.

"So did you!" Remus said, unable to stop his own smile from going so wide that it pained his cheeks.

Continuing to grin, Remus sat down along with the rest of his table, watching as the sorting trudged on. A few girls were eventually put into Gryffindor as well, the names going on and on until they finally got to Peter. Peter Pettigrew, rather, as Remus hadn't known his last name.

He shuffled to the stool, Remus and Sirius both leaning up to watch in tense silence. The other Gryffindors—having noticed Sirius doing the same thing for Remus—whispered a bit at their reactions and started paying extra close attention.

The hat was dropped onto Peter's head, leaving them all to wait.

And wait.

And _wait_.

Eventually, whispers started to erupt around the room, Remus noting one word getting thrown around more often. "Hatstall."

"What's a hatstall?" Remus asked quietly, looking first at Sirius across from him, before both boys turned to the older members at the table.

"It's when the hat can't decide," one of the Gryffindors answered quietly back.

"When someone has qualities suited to more than one house and the hat isn't sure where they should go," another explained. "Professor McGonagall, she was a hatstall between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. She was the last one that took more than five minutes to decide."

"More than five minutes makes a hatstall," another kid added lastly.

Turning back to Peter, Remus pursed his lips and continued to wait. Until someone at another table whispered that they'd passed the five-minute mark.

Remus twisted his hands together.

"C'mon, Pete!" James yelled suddenly, his voice startling a few of the remaining first years standing around him. "You can do it!"

"Yeah! C'mon, Pete!" Sirius yelled after, his voice carrying loudly across the hall.

"You can do it, Peter!" Remus shouted as well, despite his nerves warning him not to.

A few others Gryffindors—apparently taking their lead—offered words of encouragement as well, as did a plethora of Hufflepuffs and a few Ravenclaws, Peter's name echoing all over the hall. While poor Peter—so nervous anyway—was visibly crying, tears streaming down his face that he vainly tried to cover with his pudgy hands.

Finally, _finally_ , the hat twitched atop his head.

It seemed to pause—perhaps for dramatic effect—before opening its mouth.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted.

James was whooping again, jumping in a great many circles that had the other firsts around him shying back, while the Gryffindors stood and cheered so loud is was nearly deafening. Sirius even went so far as to stand up on his section of bench, cheering loudly as Peter practically ran to their table. He was still wiping his eyes as he arrived, but was smiling too, looking both stressed and relieved. He slumped into a seat beside Sirius, who patted him encouragingly on the back. A great many Gryffindors were doing much the same, apparently taking a great deal of pride in the fact that they'd nabbed the hatstall.

And so, the sorting went on.

Leaning forward, Remus grabbed Sirius' attention (Peter was still trying to catch his breath). "What if James doesn't make it?" he whispered.

Sirius frowned. "He has to, hasn't he?"

"What are you guys whispering about?" an older boy asked, a few other Gryffindors leaning in with rapt attention. It seemed they'd drawn quite a bit of interest with their little group display.

"Uh, our last friend, James," Remus replied.

"He gonna be a Gryffindor too?" asked a girl.

"That's what he says," Sirius reasoned.

A few of the older kids were skeptical, but before any more could be said of the subject, Remus and Sirius were whipping back around to the sorting.

"Potter, James!"

With confidence he had absolutely no right to have, James marched right on up to the stool and sat down in a flurry of robes. He was smiling and even nodded politely to McGonagall as she held out the hat for his head.

Remus' fists clenched with nerves. What if he didn't…

The hat wasn't even fully on his head—McGonagall was still holding it by its drooping tip—when that wrinkly mouth opened. "Gryffindor!" it yelled.

Never mind, Remus decided.

More cheering and clapping, James wearing a very debonair smile as he sauntered on over to their table. Thanking everyone for their congratulations, he took up a seat beside Remus and leaned in over the table. The other three did the same in turn.

"I told you I wouldn't be friends with anyone but Gryffindors," James said simply, as if that explained it all.

Sirius mimicked James' arrogant smile, Peter sighed in relief, and Remus rolled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, as I said above, I've never been in the Harry Potter fandom. I've never much cared about it, but I had a really fun time exploring these characters and, namely, writing a fic about younger kids without all the complications of romance (yet). But as a result of never being a part of the fandom, most of what I've absorbed about the tropes often set to these characters has been very rare and in passing. For this reason, these characters will likely not be characterized they way you're used to reading about them. I hope it's refreshing, but if not, well, I don't care. ANYWAY! Hopefully we're getting off to a good start here.
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on twitter - SKayLanphear - where I post chapter previews and other fun things.


	2. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

"Mr. Lupin?"

The calling of his name interrupted Sirius' animated story about the day he and his little brother got locked in the Black's haunted attic, all four boys turning as though they each responded equally to any one of their names being called.

They were following the other first years from the great hall after having stuffed themselves on the feast. The prefects were sorting them out, to show them to the dormitory. Remus had been excited to go, flanked by his three new friends. But reality came crashing back as he looked up at Professor McGonagall, who'd been the one to call him.

"A word," she said simply and nodded.

Right, he had "special circumstances."

Bowing his head shyly, he ignored the curious looks his friends were giving him, until James reached out and grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"Mr. Lupin will be joining you all shortly," McGonagall assured. "Off you go, you three." She waved them away, Remus sparing them a small smile as he tugged himself free. Shuffling on down between the tables the way they'd come, he didn't look back as he heard the other first years filing out the doors. He trailed McGonagall instead, who led him to the head of the room and back behind the staff table. They ducked in through another door here, which opened up into a small storage room of sorts off the side of the great hall.

Here, Dumbledore awaited them.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin, how lovely to see you again," he said, smiling gently as he nodded down at Remus.

"Hello, Sir," Remus said quietly.

"Now, what is this about?" Professor McGonagall asked, sounding as strict as ever as she set her focus on Dumbledore.

"It is about Mr. Lupin's particular situation," Dumbledore explained, which had Remus turning red with shame and embarrassment. He didn't want to look up at him, but Dumbledore stepped in close and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, spurring him to look up anyway.

Dumbledore's light blue eyes twinkled down at him. "Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor house," he explained slowly. "So I think it's important that she understand all about you, don't you think?"

Remus couldn't be sure, but he nodded anyway. Certainly Dumbledore knew best.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said then, looking again to McGonagall, who was a picture of quiet curiosity. "Mr. Lupin here is a first at Hogwarts. In fact, I went personally to ensure that he attended." He paused, as if Professor McGonagall could prepare herself for news she didn't know was coming. "Mr. Lupin suffers from full lycanthropy."

Though he didn't look up at her, Remus heard McGonagall gasp, saw her twitch out of the corner of his eyes. Like she'd raised her hand to her mouth or chest, dismayed.

"You, Poppy, and I are now the only ones who are aware of Mr. Lupin's condition." He said it very slowly—carefully. "I've made arrangements to make it possible for Mr. Lupin to be here and be safe during full moons and I think it would go a very long way if you could offer him your support in these matters."

"I—Of course," McGonagall stammered out, her voice a little higher—a little softer—than Remus had yet heard it. "But how will he…?"

"Poppy will be giving Mr. Lupin a tour of all the arrangements I've made tomorrow, following his first day of classes. Perhaps you'd like to join him?"

Though he asked, Remus got the impression Dumbledore wasn't actually posing a question.

"Ah, of course. Yes, I can certainly do that," she agreed.

Dumbledore turned his attention back down to Remus. "Does that sound alright to you, Mr. Lupin? Professor McGonagall will escort you to the hospital wing tomorrow, after you finish your lessons, and there you can meet Madam Pomfrey."

Remus nodded. What else could he really do?

"Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor house, like I said," he continued. "It's her job to look after you. Should you have any problems, you're to go directly to her, understand? Or myself or Madam Pomfrey."

Remus nodded again.

"Very good." Dumbledore squeezed his shoulder. "Now, I would imagine you're itching to return to your friends, yes? They are no doubt very put-out by your absence. Minerva, will you show Mr. Lupin where your office is, and then to Gryffindor Tower?"

"Of course," she agreed and stepped back toward the door. "Come now, Mr. Lupin," she said simply, once again adopting her strict attitude. Sharing one final look with Dumbledore, Remus was soon trailing after, feeling incredibly awkward and exposed as they headed on through the empty hall.

"Don't stare at your feet, Mr. Lupin," McGonagall said, once they'd left the great hall behind. "You'd prefer to actually learn where we're going, wouldn't you?"

Supposing she was right, Remus muttered a soft "Yes, Ma'am" and made sure to keep track of every turn they took. They were still on the first floor, he thought, when McGonagall opened a door and gestured him inside.

"This is my office," she explained as she closed the door behind them. It was a small, neat room, with plenty of full bookcases, an ornate oak desk, and a few faded Gryffindor flags on the walls. "You'll remember it once you start attending transfiguration, as it's quite closeby to the classroom."

"Yes, Ma'am," he muttered again.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, until McGonagall released a quiet huff. Daring to look up at her, Remus saw her watching him with a severe sort of concern, which put him a bit on the defensive. He wasn't some helpless pity case, after all. He was even quite normal, outside the full moons. Or so he liked to think.

Unless she was looking like that because she thought he was dangerous…

"I wish to warn you, Mr. Lupin, as delicately as I can," she eventually started. "I'm sure you've already been told that your condition should remain a secret, but I must impress upon you the importance of this. Not for the sake of others, but for yours." Stepping forward, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her expression turning soft. "While we would like to assure all students here at Hogwarts that the staff is always available to support and protect them, I fear you will encounter certain… prejudices, even amongst _my_ peers. I would hate to see you get hurt, so please, guard your secret from everyone, not just your fellow students. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Unable to hide how his chin trembled and his breath shook, Remus nodded and twined his fingers together again. He blinked, not wanting to give into the pressure rising up behind his eyes. He knew that most wizards and witches hated what he was. That they'd be horrified or disgusted by him. Professor McGonagall was trying to be nice about it, but he was used to it. He'd spent his whole life alone with only his parents because of it—he knew exactly what she meant.

"But don't be afraid to come to me," she continued. "Or the Headmaster or Madam Pomfrey. We're here to help you, hm?"

He nodded silently, unable to stop a couple tears from leaking out down his cheeks. Reaching up, he tried to wipe them away, but that only made it worse.

Stepping aside, McGonagall reached over her desk. When she turned back to him, she was holding out a lacy handkerchief, her initials embroidered on the corner.

"There you go," she said quietly, when he finally gave in and reached out for it. Wiping his face with the soft fabric, he then tried to hand it back, but McGonagall was already making her way back to the door.

Gulping back against his tears, Remus tucked the handkerchief in the pocket of his robes and followed her again. Leaving the office behind, they moved on. Down hallway after hallway, up flights of stairs, past dozens and dozens of moving, chatting pictures. Until they stood before a large portrait of a very fat lady in a fluffy pink dress.

"Password?" the portrait asked.

"Superiora Loca," McGonagall said, which earned her a nod before the portrait swung open.

She turned to Remus. "This is the the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Remember the password, as you'll need it to come and go." Remus nodded, muttering the password under his breath and committing it to memory. "Now, in you go. One of the older students can direct you to your dormitory." She stepped aside and motioned him through the portrait hole.

Nodding in silent thanks, Remus found himself quite relieved to leave her behind. Not because she didn't seem nice, in her own way, but because he preferred to think as little as possible about being a werewolf. He could already feel the effects of the full moon beginning to settle in, with it being so close, but still, the more he could think about other things, the better he liked it.

"There you are!" It was James that exclaimed as he entered the large common room. Sirius and Peter were standing at his sides, each of them still carrying their bags from the train. A rather annoyed prefect was lording up behind.

"We wanted to wait for you," Sirius explained as Remus approached. "Before we went to our room."

"Where were you?" Peter asked.

"Oh, um…" Remus fiddled with the strap of his bag. "Just a note from my mum. She sent it to Dumbledore. Nothing important." The pit in his stomach returned. He knew he had to lie, but he'd always hated doing it. Besides, he didn't think he was much good at it.

"Yes, yes, very well," the prefect said impatiently, waylaying the conversation from any further questions. "Now that you're all together, are we finally set to move on?"

"Yes!" James pointed to the stairs along the wall. "Let's go!"

Head shaking, the prefect stomped up the stairs, muttering some under his breath about "annoying first years" as they scurried along behind him. Thankful for the bright smiles being thrown around between the four of them, Remus finally managed a small grin of his own as they rounded their way up the stone steps to their very own dormitory.

They were all gawping in awe when the prefect finally pushed a door open and ushered them inside. It was a large, round room, already set up for the four of them. Their things had been brought up from the train already, their trunks propped up at the ends of their large, four-poster beds. The room was decked out in red and gold from the carpets to the wall colors to the curtains draping down from the bed canopies.

"Yes, yes, very impressive. Your schedules will be handed out at breakfast, so don't be late." Apparently having more important places to be than babysitting first years, the prefect turned and headed back out again, the door closing behind him.

And so they were four.

"This is already _so_ much better than my house!" Sirius announced as he vaulted onto the the bed behind his black "SB" labeled trunk. Landing on the sheets, he smiled wide as he jumped up and down a few times. "No green or silver in sight!"

"It's brilliant!" James agreed as he followed him up onto the bed. The two of them jumped up and down together, laughing and shoving. Peter watched, giggling when James nearly bounced Sirius right off the side of the bed. Still grinning to himself, Remus trailed over to the bed behind his own trunk and set his bag down on the mattress. Running his hands over the thick, heavy curtains, he took a deep breath and told himself that everything would be fine from here on. The teachers that needed to know about his condition were now aware and so long as he did as he was told, nothing could go wrong.

He was at Hogwarts now. He had _friends_. He didn't want to be worrying all the time. Not like at home. Not like he always had before.

Maybe, even if it was just for a little while, he could pretend to be normal.

"Watch out, Remus!" Sirius called, Remus looking up and stepping back just in time for James and Sirius to come bounding from Sirius' bed across the narrow gap to Remus' bed. They tumbled into the landing, falling all over the sheets and each other as they laughed. James ended up rolling all the way over onto the floor, which had Sirius cackling even harder.

"You guys are awfully rowdy," Remus commented strictly as he stepped back up beside his bed. Sirius was leaning over the other side, pointing down at James. And because he could (it _was_ his bed), Remus leaned up on the mattress, reached out, and shoved Sirius all the way over. With a squawk and an "oof," he landed atop James on the floor.

Retaining his dignity, Remus then took a seat on the edge of the bed and pulled up his smaller bag to start unpacking.

He probably should have expected that James and Sirius would assault him from behind.

They toppled to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Remus grunting as James and Sirius' weight flattened him atop the carpet, the breath knocked out of him even as he flailed and tried to push them away. It wasn't really working, not with James pressing the side of his face into the floor and Sirius sitting on his back, but the thing about Remus was that he was deceptively strong for someone so small. Especially this close to a full moon.

Bracing his hands on the floor, he gathered his strength and shoved himself up onto his hands and knees, James flopping back as he knocked him under the chin. Sirius, meanwhile, "whoaed" in surprise and grabbed the back of Remus' robes to steady himself.

"Yee haw!" Sirius hollered, kicking his legs at Remus' side.

"Yeah, right," Remus rebuked and shoved himself back to his feet. With a thud, Sirius landed butt-first on the floor, Remus finally free as he stepped around James. Sniffing, he straightened his robes and pushed his hair back out of his face.

The other two, meanwhile, appeared to be in need of catching their breath. Huffing and laughing, they remained sprawled out on the floor and very much in Remus' way. So he started lightly kicking them, ignoring their protests until they were slinking their way back onto Sirius' bed.

"Awfully mean of you, Remu," Sirius remarked.

"I want to get my stuff organized and you're both in the way," he said simply. "And don't call me that."

"Call you Rem?" Sirius asked.

"You can call me Remus. It _is_ my name."

"I'll call you Remu."

"Remus."

"Sure thing, Remu."

Remus shook his head and moved to his trunk.

"You got more books in there?" Sirius asked, bounding off the end of his bed to skulk up at Remus' back.

"A few."

"Muggle books?"

"Yes."

"Hey, James!" Peter called from the other side of the room. "This your owl?"

"Yes!" James threw himself off Sirius' bed and back to his feet. "My mum and dad got her for me when I got my Hogwarts letter." Turning, both Sirius and Remus looked to the cage sitting on the window ledge between James and Sirius' bed. Inside it was a pale-faced barn owl, who swiveled her head at finally being acknowledged. Going over, James opened the cage and came back with the pretty bird perched on his arm.

"I have a cat," Peter said as he reached up to pet the owl under her chin. "But he's too old to come to Hogwarts." The owl pecked his finger, causing him to flinch back.

"My cousins all got owls after they were sorted," Sirius said and slumped. "I probably won't get one…"

Peter frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm a Gryffindor."

"What's wrong with that?" James asked, more than a little affronted.

"I told you, all the Blacks are Slytherins," Sirius replied. "My mum's gonna be so mad. I bet this means I've tarnished the sacred Black name."

"But you can't help where you were sorted to," Peter reasoned. "It's just who you are."

Sirius slumped further. "That makes it even worse."

Reaching out, Remus patted Sirius on the shoulder. "I don't have a pet either," he said, hoping it was a little bit comforting.

Sirius managed a small smile.

"What's your owl's name, James?" Peter asked, more than happy to turn his attention back to the apple of his eye. He watched James like he was a glittering jewel.

"Helga."

"Helga?" Sirius snorted.

"My dad named her, okay?!" James defended weakly, while Sirius sputtered into laughter.

Grinning, Remus shook his head and turned his attention back to his trunk. Flipping the latches, he shoved Sirius off of where he was leaning against it and lifted the lid. He shoved Sirius again when he immediately turned and stuck his head in to have a look.

"I just wanna see!" he defended.

"Go look at your own stuff," Remus rebuked, this time laying his hand over Sirius' cheek and shoving him back by the head.

"You're so mean." Sirius pouted and crawled away. Over to his own trunk.

After releasing his owl out the window—"to the owlery"—James and Peter went about unpacking as well, though none of them really had much that actually needed removing. Schoolbooks, mostly, and another gobstone set in Peter's case. Remus took out his novels and stacked them neatly underneath his end table, while James pulled out a wizard's chess set that looked as though it'd never been used.

"What's this?" Sirius asked, just as Remus was turning back from his end table. He was standing over Remus' trunk again, a dirty old plushie dangling from between his pinched fingers.

"Give me that!" Remus snapped, his cheeks flushing red as he darted forward and yanked the old toy from Sirius' clutches. He hadn't planned on even taking it out, supposing that having an old stuffed toy was a bit babyish. He'd almost left it at home, but then decided he'd at least like to have it with him. Now he kind of wished he'd gone with his original plan.

"Is it a wolf?" Sirius asked, both James and Peter turning their attention their way as well.

"It's… Yes…" Remus clutched the old plush close to his chest, still red-faced and rebellious. "So what?" His mother had made it shortly after he'd been… bitten. She was always trying to make his lycanthropy into something not quite so terrible despite all the facts that said otherwise. He kept the old, fuzzy plush less because it was a wolf and more because his mother had made it, and also because he liked to throw it against the wall and beat on it. He got a bit throwy around full moons, so better to toss around a stuffed animal than something breakable.

"I was just wondering," Sirius said, pouting again. "Don't need to get mad about it. Look!" Skirting back over to his own trunk, he rummaged around in his mess of clothes and books, eventually pulling out a filthy old dragon plush that was so faded it was hard to tell the original color. One of its eyes was missing and the left leg looked like it'd been sewn back on at some point. He held it up like a dirty rag. "This is Ugo—she's very gross."

"Why would you bring this with you?" James asked. He'd come up beside Sirius and poked at the old dragon, looking repulsed.

"I had to. My mum is always trying to throw her away. I couldn't leave her to that sort of fate."

"I feel like your mum is right," James said.

"Look, Ugo is disgusting, but she can't help it. I never wash her."

"Why not?"

"Because dragons don't take baths, James." He said as much like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Also, because that's exactly what my mum would want. I never do what she wants if I can help it."

James was skeptical. "Clearly."

"I have a niffler," Peter interjected, producing a very well taken care of stuffed niffler. The hair was so soft and perfect that it looked practically brand new.

"You're all babies," James decided with a sniff, though he looked thoroughly put-out.

"You're just jealous of Ugo," Sirius said. "You wanna hold her?"

"Keep that gross thing away from me."

Grinning, Sirius started chasing James around the room with the old dragon, going on about how James was hurting her feelings. He didn't stop until James took back his baby comment, which led to him admitting that he had an old dinosaur plush that he slept with.

"But we're at Hogwarts now—it's time to grow up!" James explained fiercely. "That's why I left it at home!"

"My mum says stuffed animals can be very therapeutic," Peter said smartly. "My uncle still has his old stuffed seal. And one of my aunts is thirty-three and she still keeps a pink unicorn."

Clearly frustrated with them, James sighed and collapsed back onto his bed. Remus thought maybe he looked a little upset by the whole thing, though.

"Just post a letter to your mum and have her send your dinosaur if you're so mad about it," Remus dared to say as he tossed his wolf back onto his bed. Personally, he was thankful that a majority of their group didn't have a problem with stuffed animals—he'd been a little worried.

"No! Remus! How could you?!" Sirius said dramatically, his dragon held around its de-stuffed neck as he pointed an accusing finger at Remus' wolf, which had rolled upside-down on his sheets.

"What?"

"That's animal abuse!" he claimed as he waved his dragon around by its throat.

Remus scoffed. Going back to his bed, he grabbed the wolf by the tail. "No, _this_ is animal abuse." Dropping the wolf on the floor, he then jumped up and landed with both feet atop its body, squashing it into the rug.

Both James and Sirius gasped dramatically, while Peter held his niffler protectively close to his chest.

"Remus! You monster!" Sirius hissed.

Stepping aside, Remus pulled his leg back and kicked the wolf across the room. It collided with the wall and plopped to the floor.

"No!" James called, both he and Sirius rushing to the wolf's side. Crouching down, James leaned his ear atop the wolf's belly, while Sirius fell very dramatically to his knees, Ugo held up above his head. "There's no pulse!" James claimed loudly. "He's a goner!"

"NOOO!" Sirius fake-sobbed to the heavens. "HE WAS SO YOUNG!"

Together, they wailed as loudly as they could manage, eventually toppling completely to the floor where they writhed and moaned around in grieving agony.

"DESICRATE THE CORPSE!" Remus yelled fiercely and sprinted over.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" James screamed, but he was too slow. Grabbing the wolf by one of its legs, Remus spun it around in the air and let it fly back to the other side of the room. James and Sirius, meanwhile, had grabbed him around the legs and were tripping him up. He fell to his knees and then to his stomach, his arms outstretched as he tried to crawl his way back to the wolf.

"Save him, Peter!" James called as he laid down on top of Remus, holding him in place.

Looking honestly startled, Peter went over and retrieved the wolf even as Remus growled and struggled against his attackers. Setting his niffler safely aside, Peter turned the wolf around in his hands a few times, before hesitantly holding it up to his ear.

"You're wrong, James," Peter dared to say. "I hear a pulse."

"OH PRAISE DUMBLEDORE'S BEARD, HE'S ALIVE!" Sirius shouted, still holding firmly to Remus' ankle.

"He's the perfect specimen," Peter said slowly, before holding the wolf up above his head, "for a SACRIFICE!"

Sirius and James gasped again, while Remus banged his fists down on the carpet.

"KILL IT!" Remus yelled. "THROW IT IN THE FIRE! USE HIS BODY PARTS FOR DARK MAGIC!"

"YES, DARK MAGIC!" Peter yelled, still holding the wolf aloft.

"You're right!" James decided and scrambled up onto his feet. "We can't miss this opportunity! He's too weak now to fight back! WE CAN TAKE THE FINAL STEP IN OUR PLANS!"

"READY THE STAGE!" Sirius called as both he and Remus hopped up onto their feet as well. Darting over to his bed, Sirius pulled his trunk out into the center of the room, which inspired James to do the same. Stacking the trunks one on top of the other, James then grabbed a comforter and draped it over.

"YES! RED!" Sirius called. "RED WITH THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES!"

Grabbing his lightly used pewter cauldron, Remus stuck it on top, very careful to place it exactly in the middle. Very important for sacrificial purposes.

"TIE HIM UP!" James ordered and pointed at the wolf.

Grabbing up their brand new sets of Gryffindor ties, Sirius and Remus went about knotting them together until they seemed long enough to stretch from Peter's four-poster across the room to Remus,' all while Peter and James yelled about the incoming power they'd be bestowed with, once the sacrifice was complete.

"CRUSH HIS INSIDES!" Remus shouted quite passionately as Sirius took the wolf from Peter, threw him on the floor, and tied him tight around the middle. Quite until his stuffing was bloating up to either side.

"We must prepare ourselves," James said. "Quick, Peter, get me more ties!"

More of their Gryffindor ties were produced. Tying one around his own forehead, James then tied one around Peter's, then Remus,' and finally Sirius,' who was holding the wolf down with a knee on his throat.

"SECURE HIM!" James ordered. Taking both sides of their newly made rope of ties, Sirius and Remus very carefully—and very grandly—pulled it taught, elevating the wolf higher and higher until he hung dangerously over the cauldron. Once he was in place, they knotted each side of the "rope" around the closest bedpost, so he was dangling aloft.

James and Peter, meanwhile, pulled out the last two remaining trunks and stacked them up behind their blanket-covered dais. Jumping up on top, James lorded over the wolf, a bottle of replacement ink in his hands.

"SQUEEZE OUT HIS INSIDES!" he yelled.

Grabbing hold of the rope again, both Sirius and Remus pulled, while James uncorked his ink bottle and dumped the contents into the cauldron.

"HIS BLOOD IS BLACK!" he shouted. "CURSED! PERFECT FOR DARK MAGIC!"

"BATHE IN HIS BLOOD!" Sirius yelled.

"BATHE IN HIS BLOOD!" Remus repeated, until all four of them were chanting the words over and over again. Looking very haughty and horrible, James stuck his hand into the cauldron, swishing it around some before coming back with his whole hand dripping in black. Holding it up to the light, he cackled manically before bringing his fingers down across his face, leaving tracks of deep black down his skin from his forehead to his chin.

"COME NOW AND RECEIVE YOUR DARK GIFTS!" he called.

"DARK GIFTS!" the others chanted and crowded up to the dais. Reaching out with his stained hand, James painted them all down the face, before commanding Peter to retrieve his deck of exploding snap cards from his end table. Once he had them in hand, he dropped down onto his knees.

"BOW BEFORE OUR SACRIFICE!" he commanded, which had the other three dropping to their knees before the dais, their voices chanting "SACRIFICE! SACRIFICE!" as they bent their foreheads to the floor over and over again. While James flipped his cards quickly into the cauldron, causing a few of them to explode for proper dramatic effect.

"What the hell is going on… in… here…?"

Their very loud chanting was interrupted by a prefect opening their door and sticking his head inside. The four first years turned to look at him, falling completely silent as they watched the older boy look first at them, then their stage, then at the poor wolf, and finally back between the four of them.

They offered no explanation, Remus supposing there was no point.

"Um…" The prefect looked very worried. "Right… I'll just… let you guys get back to it." Eyes wide and rather horrified, he slowly backed out of the door, closing it softly behind him.

The four boys turned back to each other, remaining quiet for a few heavy seconds.

"They know now to fear us," Sirius said with the utmost glee. "He will carry the message to the others."

"Yes! Exactly! They will tremble in terror at the very thought of us from now on!" James agreed.

"Or they'll think we're all crazy…" Peter muttered.

"Even better!" Sirius decided, and cackled. Cackling that deteriorated into honest laughter, all of them bursting with giggles as they flopped back on the floor. All but James, who fell off his stage onto his back and instigated even more laughter.

By the time they got themselves under control, they were all heaving for breath and sweating through their robes. They considered keeping their sacrifice intact through the night, but Remus wanted to clean out his cauldron before their lessons the following day, so that fell through. He also figured that if they kept his wolf tied up, they might permanently dent his insides, so that was also reason to take it all down.

Leaving the trunks stacked up in the center of the room, everything else came down, all four of them crowding into the washroom to clean the ink off their faces and rinse out Remus' cauldron. The ink, unfortunately, was quite stubborn, and didn't much want to wash away. They scrubbed until their faces were red, but they still had faded traces of black streaking down their skin. Which none of them minded all that much, mostly because if they all looked the same, then it was less humiliating.

They were mostly clean by the time they changed into their pajamas, Remus waiting until he had the bathroom all to himself in order to strip down. He had a lot of scars on his chest, shoulders, and arms that he wasn't quite ready to share with anyone yet.

They were still somewhat giggly and stupid as they finally climbed into bed, but the exhaustion and stress of the day carried them quite swiftly into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would imagine that these boys are not only rambunctious, but that their maturity levels are questionable on all sides. Sirius is sheltered, James is pampered, Peter wants to fit in with the group, and Remus is right before a full moon. Hence, we are where we are. Plus, it's good bonding for them. Also--with the exception of Peter--they've all led pretty isolated existences, so... do with that what you will. 
> 
> I didn't mention this before, but if you guys could be sure to leave reviews, that'd be great. I realize year one of this story is finished so the updates are a done deal (seemingly), but I'd still like to get opinions and thoughts on it. 
> 
> THANK YOU! And feel free to follow me on twitter - SKayLanphear.


	3. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

"I dunno, I think maybe I like transfiguration the best so far," Sirius said thoughtfully, the four of them crowding out of their last lesson of the day.

"Charms seems funs," Remus added.

"I'm betting defense against the dark arts tomorrow will be the best one," James said for the fourth time. "And flying."

"Do you think potions will be hard?" Peter asked.

"It's just following directions, isn't it?" Sirius said. "How hard can it be?"

"Mr. Lupin."

Coming to a quick halt, Remus turned back to the classroom where Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, looking very expectant.

"Oh, right…" he muttered. _Werewolf stuff_.

"What's up?" James asked, looking far too concerned.

"Oh, uh, nothing," Remus muttered. "Just gotta go, um…"

"I need to speak to Mr. Lupin privately," McGonagall interjected. "Unless you've all planned another impromptu sacrifice in your dormitory this afternoon."

Remus smirked, while Sirius laughed.

"No, Ma'am, not tonight," James said quite seriously. "Heard about that, did you?"

"The older students were rather concerned," she replied, one of her eyebrows inching upward.

"They should be!" Sirius said. "They're next!"

"Indeed. Well, don't go wasting all your ink—you'll need it for essays, not your faces. Come on now, Mr. Lupin."

"I'll see you guys later," Remus assured, before hurrying after their professor. He could feel their curious looks on his back, but didn't have the stomach to glance over his shoulder. He was grateful when he and McGonagall had turned a corner, leading him out of sight.

He had to jog to keep up with her at some points, as she marched quite swiftly through the castle. Looking around intently, he memorized as best he could where they were going, supposing he'd have to make the trip all on his own sooner or later.

The doors into the hospital wing were large and open, much like those leading into the great hall. The room that followed was narrow and quite long, lined on both side with beds. All of them were empty at the moment, but the matron was bustling around nonetheless.

"Poppy," McGonagall said as they came to a stop just past the doors, her call drawing the huffy woman's attention. But upon seeing who it was, her rather touchy expression cleared. "I've brought Mr. Lupin with me. Albus said I should stay for the briefing."

"Oh, right, yes, that's reasonable." She was a short, plump sort of woman with graying hair, kind wrinkles, and snapping posture. Her robes were red and white, as was expected of a healer, and she wore a long sort of cornette over her hair and down her back.

She didn't seem the type to deal with any sort of nonsense, much like McGonagall.

"Mr. Lupin, this is Madam Pomfrey," McGonagall said as the healer came over to meet them.

"Hello," Remus said quietly—shyly.

"Why, you're a tiny little thing, aren't you?" Madam Pomfrey said, which Remus did _not_ appreciate. "All skin and bones. But, then again, knowing the sort of… anguish you suffer every month… And so young too, goodness."

Pooching his lips to the side, Remus decided it was probably best to be quiet. He was feeling particularly tetchy, due to the looming full moon. Best not to give off a bad first impression.

"Albus said you'd walk us through how all of this is going to work?" McGonagall said.

"Ah, yes, of course." Madam Pomfrey nodded and gestured to her office at the back of the room. "Shall we?"

McGonagall nodded and the group as a whole headed over, Remus dragging his feet lastly. He eventually ended up seated across from Madam Pomfrey and her desk, McGonagall magicking another chair for herself beside him.

"So, the first full moon is this Sunday," Madam Pomfrey started. "Albus and I have decided it would be best if you, Mr. Lupin, reported to me by six in the evening on nights where you're to be situated elsewhere. That allows me enough time to give you a proper checkup, hm?"

Remus nodded, supposing he didn't actually have any choice in the matter.

"And where will he be spending his full moons?" McGonagall asked.

"Albus has arranged for a location beyond the grounds. It's why the whomping willow was planted outside the castle this last year." A statement that had McGonagall raising her eyebrows in interest. "Beneath the willow is a passage that leads into the outskirts of Hogsmeade, where the abandoned shack has been set up specifically for Mr. Lupin's needs. He'll be safe to serve out his transformations there, away from the castle. Albus has already cast considerable wards around the shack, to dissuade others from approaching."

"I hadn't even considered that to be the purpose of the whomping willow," McGonagall conceded. "I had attributed it to another of Albus' eccentricities. Of course, it is a very good defense in preventing students from wandering down into the passage, but how are we to reach the entrance ourselves? I assume we must somehow traverse beneath the tree."

"There's a knot at the base of the trunk," Madam Pomfrey explained. "Once it's been tapped, the tree will become inactive for a short period of time."

"Ah, thus allowing one to get close."

"Precisely."

"After the full moon passes, I'll go to collect you, Mr. Lupin. I've not ever treated anyone with lycanthropy so intimately, but I've done as much research as I can in preparation." She was looking at him, talking to him like he actually might know something. It was… odd, coming from an adult, and had Remus paying closer attention. "It's true that you sometimes injure yourself during your transformations, yes?"

"Uh, yeah…" Remus rubbed his hands on his thighs. "I don't like being alone. I mean, the—the wolf, he doesn't like being alone and, uh, locked up. So he—he hurts himself. Me."

McGonagall frowned, but Madam Pomfrey remained focused.

"Do you remember your time as—as a wolf?" she asked. "I've heard it varies on a case by case basis."

"Yes, sort of. But the wolf doesn't always understand what's happening." He couldn't understand words, for example, and didn't recognize people he knew. "The healers, they say it's because I was bitten so young. That my brain, it—it developed with the infection, so my connection to the wolf is stronger."

"But you have no control?"

Remus shook his head. "Nobody has that…"

"Of course. Well, I'll come prepared for any sort of injury you might inflict on yourself. And after you're patched up, we'll come back here to the infirmary where you can rest. Your parents say it can sometimes take you a few days to recover enough to go about normal activities?"

"Yes. But—But I don't want to miss too much school or anything. If you can heal me good enough, then I'll make myself do better."

"I don't want you to push yourself," McGonagall said. "We can excuse any classes you miss until you can make up the work."

But Remus didn't want to depend on excuses. It was bad enough he was lying all the time anyway. Not that he said as much, instead settling for a silent nod. He'd just have to fake it if he didn't feel well, in order to be let out for class.

"Shall we go tour the passage and the shack now?" McGonagall asked.

"I considered it, but I think it best that we draw as little attention to the tree as possible," Madam Pomfrey said. "We can schedule a tour later tonight or tomorrow evening, when most of the students are closed up in their dorms. The willow is planted some off the beaten path, but this time of day, plenty of students will be out and about on the grounds."

"I don't need a tour," Remus replied. "It's just a secret path that leads to a shack, right?"

"A specific room in the shack, yes. A room that's been made up specifically for you."

Remus shrugged. "If it's just an empty room without any windows, then I don't need to see it." He knew what to expect.

"Oh, are—are you sure?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "We're here to make you as comfortable as possible."

"It's never comfortable," he snapped, before catching himself. He sighed. "It won't make any difference—a locked-up room is a locked-up room."

McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey shared a look, but Remus didn't bother glancing up to see what it was about.

"Can I go back to my friends now?" he asked. "I don't want them to get suspicious."

"Well, you—" McGonagall sighed. "Yes, certainly. Do you think you can make it back on your own?"

Remus wasn't sure, but nodded anyway and pushed himself off the chair. Deciding he'd do better not to look at either of them, he kept his eyes on his feet as he moved to the door. Something caught him just inside the doorway, however. A feeling of rebelliousness, perhaps, or the conceited desire to have the last word, if only to solidify his own superior knowledge about his condition.

"The wolf doesn't like new locked-up places," he said, aware that the two women had shifted to listen to him. "This Sunday will be a really bad one."

"You mean… for injuries?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Yes." Finally sparing them a look, he remained steady for a few long seconds, before tearing his attention away and slipping out. Walking fast, he scurried quickly out the large doors and back into the castle.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon, late summer light dancing in through the huge windows and sparkling off the flittering dust floating about. Practically jogging through the scatter, Remus did his best to backtrack. He got lost a few times, even once ending up at a steep set of stairs that looked like they descended into the dungeons, but eventually he found himself in the transfiguration corridor again, where he'd left his friends.

He was a bit disappointed that they weren't waiting for him, which was stupid and he mentally scolded himself. He should have asked where they were heading before he'd left with McGonagall. Maybe they'd returned to the dormitory? But, no, Sirius and James weren't the types that would want to be inside on such a nice day, especially since lessons were over and they didn't have much in the way of homework yet.

Frowning, Remus slumped and hunkered down the hall, brushing by a few fellow students. He did come across two older Gryffindors sitting on a bench against the wall, which had him hesitating. They were staring down at their textbooks, not noticing his loitering, and Remus almost kept going. But one of them looked up as he was contemplating—an older girl with curly blonde hair—and so Remus was left stammering for words.

"Um, did you—did you happen to see my friends pass through here?" he quietly asked.

The other girl looked up as well, the two surveying him curiously before recognition dawned on them.

"You mean the other first year boys?" the blonde asked and Remus nodded. "They passed by a little while ago. I think they headed out into the courtyard." She pointed down the hall some, where the walls turned to open pillars and the warmth of the day flooded through between them.

"Okay. Thank you," he muttered, bowing his head as they smiled before he took up a hasty walk down the hall. Staring out between the pillars, he surveyed the courtyard where a plethora of black-cloaked students were hanging about, some in the grass under the trees, others against the castle walls, most sprawled out in the sun.

Releasing a huffing breath, Remus smiled when he spotted James and Peter. They were standing off to one corner, talking quietly. Resituating his bag on his shoulder, he skipped down the stairs out into the sun, legs kicking into a jog.

"Hey!" he said as they met up, James and Peter turning to him in surprise. "I'm back, sorry. Um, where's Sirius?"

James scowled and gestured across the courtyard. Turning the same way, Remus' attention snagged on a group of older students standing beneath the biggest tree in the clearing. All but Sirius, who was shortest by far and practically surrounded by the other five Slytherins.

Remus frowned.

"They said they wanted to talk to him," Peter explained. "And told me and James to bugger off."

"Sirius said the blonde girl is his cousin," James said. "But he didn't really look too happy about talking to her."

"She does look kinda…" Remus curled his nose.

"Snobby and stiff?" James supplied.

"Yeah, I guess. But Sirius is kinda snobby too," Remus replied.

James gaped. "What?! No, he's not!"

"Yeah, he is. So are you, actually."

"What?! I am not!"

"What do you think they're talking about?" Remus asked, moving on easily enough.

James pouted.

"His sorting, maybe?" Peter suggested. "They looked real mad about it yesterday, the Slytherins."

Remus hummed thoughtfully, all three of them continuing to watch. It was Sirius' supposed cousin that was doing a lot of the talking, though a couple of the others interjected occasionally. Sirius wasn't really saying much of anything, his expression sulky and dejected as he stared off to the side.

"Guess we had better do something," Remus eventually decided.

"Yeah?" James grinned. "I was thinking the same, but Pete said it's none of our business."

"Because I thought that was the right thing!" Peter whined back.

"I don't want to stand around here waiting," Remus reasoned. "We have stuff to be doing."

Peter gawped. "We do?"

"'Course!" James said. "They've been talking long enough—let's go get him."

Nodding, Remus walked in stride alongside James as the two took the most direct route across the courtyard to the tree. Peter hurried along behind them, looking a little nervous, but bracing himself nonetheless.

"We told you kids to bugger off," one of the Slytherins said upon spotting their approach, his expression going sour. The others looked up at them as well, including Sirius' cousin. While Sirius turned his head over his shoulder just in time for James to reach out and grab his arm.

"C'mon, Sirius, let's go," he said simply and tugged.

" _We're_ talking to him," the cousin said coldly.

"Well, you've been talking long enough," Remus snapped back.

"Excuse me?" the cousin said. "This is Black family business."

"Exactly," said the same boy from before—another platinum blonde. "You three had better clear off."

" _You_ clear off," Remus rebuked, Sirius stumbling back into step with James as he pulled on him.

A large, heavy boy pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it right at Remus' nose. "What did you just say, stretch marks?"

It took Remus an extra second to realize "stretch marks" was a nasty title referring to his face. Glaring, he reached up and swatted the wand out of the way, finding that he wasn't the least bit afraid of these gits.

"Don't call him that!" James interjected fiercely, one hand still clamped around Sirius' arm while his other was on his own wand. Hopping up beside Remus, he brandished it at the older students.

They laughed.

"Look at these tiny firsties," a tall, somewhat wiry young man taunted. "Gonna poke us with that wand of yours? Can't imagine you know anything else to do with it."

"Shut up!" Sirius added, his own wand in his hand as he pulled away from James and came up on Remus' other side.

"Bite your tongue, Sirius," his cousin warned. "You're a Black. You would do better to act like it."

"If that means acting like you, I'll pass," Sirius rebuked.

"Lower your wands, _children_ ," the blonde boy said steadily, though he was obviously annoyed.

James and Sirius retained their stances, while Remus went ahead and pulled his own wand from his robes. "We're not scared of you, greasy cunts!" he dared to say.

A few of the Slytherins gaped at his language, while those remaining glared.

"Filthy half-blood, how dare you," Sirius' cousin hissed.

Pointing his wand a bit more severely, James opened his mouth, but before he could get out what was clearly an attempt at a spell, one of the Slytherins silently flicked their wand and blasted him in the face. He reeled back and landed flat on his back.

"James!" The other three boys all shouted, watching in horror as James blinked up at them, dazed, while great red boils started blistering all over his face.

"Hey!" Remus turned fiercely back at them. "You fu—"

"What are you doing?!" From across the courtyard came yet another Slytherin, her face contorted in anger. Remus noted that she looked strikingly like Sirius' cousin, though with brown hair instead of blonde. "Did you just jinx that first year?!" She was wearing a "Head Girl" badge on her pristine robes.

The Slytherins all seemed to slink back at her furious approach.

"They were sticking their noses in where they don't belong," the blonde Slytherin boy reasoned as she finally reached them.

"That doesn't mean you can go around jinxing them on their first day!" she scolded loudly. "Twenty points from Slytherin!"

They all scowled.

"She's right," Sirius' blonde cousin agreed, albeit grudgingly. "Even if they do deserve it." She eyed the Head Girl knowingly, before turning away. "Let's go. We'll talk again later, Sirius."

"Fat chance," Sirius muttered.

"Are you alright?" the head girl asked as she crouched down beside James, who was sitting up and feeling around on his face in growing horror.

"They were being nasty, Andromeda," Sirius started explaining, his voice clearly directed at the head girl. "And they were trying to tell me I was going to muck up the Black name by being in Gryffindor!"

She sighed as she reached out and helped James to his feet. "Well, you did cause quite a stir, Sirius."

"It's not my fault!"

"Let's just get your friend to the hospital wing," she continued.

"What did those gits do to my face?!" James said loudly, outraged, while Remus bent down and picked his glasses up out of the grass. They'd gone flying off when the spell had impacted.

"It's just the furnunculus jinx," the head girl explained. "They could have done a lot worse to you, trust me."

"They shouldn't attack my friends!" Sirius sounded equally outraged. "And Cissy just stood there!"

"Do calm down, Sirius." Hand on James' back, she started escorting him across the courtyard and back into the castle, the others flitting along beside her.

"But—"

"I mean it, Sirius," she said gravely. "It's bad enough you're a Gryffindor—don't go barking about being friends with this lot as well."

"Excuse me?" Remus interjected, nose curling again.

"It's for your own good, all of you," she reasoned.

"I'll jinx _them_ next time! I'll _hex_ them!" James growled.

"Better not," she advised.

"James is a pureblood, though!" Sirius countered. "And he's the one they jinxed!"

"Sirius, please…"

"Who are you?" Peter piped in, sounding squeaky.

"This is my cousin, Andromeda," Sirius muttered. "She's not as bad as the others. But only just."

Lips pursing, Andromeda reached out and swatted him on the back of the head. "Watch your mouth, Sirius, or I'll jinx _you_."

"How many cousins do you have?" James asked, his voice sounding a bit bloated coming out of his swollen face.

"Too many, I think," Sirius decided.

"Look, you lot need to calm down, alright?" Andromeda said. "You're not helping, getting up in Black business. Just leave it alone."

"Why does it matter where Sirius was sorted to anyway?" Remus asked.

"You don't understand," she said.

"Why? Because I'm a half-blood?!"

Andromeda sighed again. Coming to a stop in the nearly empty corridor, she rounded on them so she could look down at their rebellious faces.

"None of you knows the first thing about Black family politics," she made clear. "Sirius is heir to House Black—his education and actions are being very closely watched by the whole family. And being sorted into Gryffindor has really gotten him off to a rough start. So unless you all want to cause him more problems, you need to mind your own business."

Turning to Sirius, the other three watched as he put his focus on his feet and kicked at the floor. Remus thought maybe he'd start crying, his face going very red.

"Look…" Andromeda's voice turned gentle. "I know this is scary for you, Sirius." Reaching out, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But it'll be okay."

"Not once Mother finds out…" he muttered.

She frowned, looking resigned. "Let's just get your friend to the hospital wing. And I'll have a talk with Cissy about leaving you alone until we hear from Aunt Walburga, alright?" Sirius nodded, still looking on the verge of tears. Reaching out, Remus tugged a bit on his sleeve, hoping it was even a little bit reassuring. Sirius didn't look at him, but he did release a huffy little breath.

Once again ushering James gently forward, Andromeda guided them through the halls in the direction Remus had just come back from. They were making their way through the hospital wing doors soon enough, Remus frowning when he saw that Professor McGonagall was still there, chatting with Madam Pomfrey.

"My goodness, what happened here?" Madam Pomfrey asked upon spotting them.

"Jinxed is all," Andromeda explained.

"On the first day of lessons?" McGonagall did not look pleased. "Did one of you boys do this?"

"No!" they all said at once.

"It was an older Slytherin," Andromeda admitted. "I took points for it."

"An older student jinxing a first year?!" McGonagall, on the other hand, was outraged.

"I took _twenty_ points for it."

This pacified their head of house just a bit.

"Well, come here, dear, let's get you fixed up," Madam Pomfrey said and led James over to the nearest bed.

"You boys alright from here?" Andromeda asked.

"Yeah," Sirius answered for them, once again kicking at the floor. "Thanks, Andromeda."

Smiling, she squeezed Sirius' shoulder comfortingly before nodding once to McGonagall and turning away. They watched her until she'd left the wing, before they turned in to look at one another.

"What happened?" McGonagall practically demanded to know.

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but Sirius was already speaking before he could.

"It's my fault," he said, shamefaced. "Some Slytherins were talking to me about being put in Gryffindor and then, uh…"

"Then I called them bad words," Remus admitted readily enough.

"And then they jinxed James!" Peter added lastly.

Looking to the ceiling, McGonagall muttered something under her breath about "needing strength" before she looked back down at them.

"I expect there will be some sour feelings for a while about you being a Gryffindor, Mr. Black," she said. "You'd do better to go to a teacher if anyone harasses you about it."

Remus and Sirius shared a look. Yeah, right—they weren't snitches.

"And you, Mr. Lupin. I expect better—don't make a habit of using any sort of nasty language. It would be a waste of everyone's time if we had to floo your parents because of your behavior rather than some other reason." She eyed him knowingly and he stared at his feet.

She was critical of them all for a few seconds longer, before turning to verify that Madam Pomfrey had the situation under control. She assured that she did, which allowed McGonagall to take her leave without another word on the subject.

"Let me just go get a boil-cure potion, hm?" Madam Pomfrey was saying to James, before she bustled back into her office.

"I'm hideous," James lamented dramatically.

"Because you weren't before?" Sirius said and grinned.

James glared at him from behind his boils.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Remus asked and looked directly at Sirius. "You being in Gryffindor?"

Sirius' grin vanished.

"It's just a family thing," he said. "Blacks are supposed to be Slytherins. And they're not supposed to be 'friends' with… your sort."

"Some of the Slytherins have to be half-bloods," Remus pointed out.

"Yeah, but their mums aren't muggles," Sirius muttered.

"Why does it matter?" Remus rebuked, frustrated. "Who cares?"  
"I _don't_ care!" Sirius said defensively. "But they do. And I'm, you know, heir, like Andromeda said. I'm important and stuff. You know, like a—a prince."

James sputtered out a laugh. "You are not."

"It's just a comparison!" Sirius spat back. "And in pureblood society, I'm very important!"

"Hey! I'm a pureblood too!" James said.

"You're practically a blood-traitor!"

"Please don't fight, you guys," Peter murmured.

"We're not fighting!" they both said at once.

"Don't shout!" Madam Pomfrey scolded as she returned. "Rowdy boys. You three, go wait outside."

Groaning, they skulked off into the corridor to wait for James.

Remus, however, found himself bothered. "Do you think you're better than me?" he asked Sirius directly.

"What?"

Peter tittered nervously.

"You and James," Remus pushed. "Do you think you're better?"

"No!"

"Don't lie!" Reaching out, Remus shoved Sirius by the shoulders.

"I'm not!" Sirius shoved him back. "That's just what my stupid family thinks!"

"Guys, c'mon…" Peter begged.

"I think you do agree with them!" Remus accused.

"I told you I don't! What's your problem, Remus?!"

"I bet you think you're better than everyone! Half-bloods and muggle-borns and everyone else! Like—Like muggles and—and—and other people!"

"No, I don't!" Sirius stomped his foot. "And there isn't any other types of people, so there!" This time, he reached out and shoved Remus first.

"There is so!" Remus pushed him back.

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"Gentlemen, _please_!" Madam Pomfrey had stomped out into the hall. "That is quite enough. Mr. Black, calm down. And Mr. Lupin…" She looked at him very pointedly. "I think maybe you're letting your temper get away from you. Best to take a step back, hm? These boys are your friends, aren't they?"

Glaring up at her, Remus balled his hands into fists and glowered. For some seconds, all he could see was red. But then the wolf inside him gradually lowered its head and he was left feeling quite cold.

"Sorry," he muttered and looked to the side.

"And on the first day…" Madam Pomfrey was saying as she turned away and headed back through the doors.

Flicking his gaze to Sirius, Remus could see he was still mad, his lips pinched and his face red again. Like maybe Remus had hurt his feelings.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," he said again, feeling very ashamed. "I just get mad sometimes. I don't mean to be." Crouching down, he traced his finger over the lines in the floor.

The full moon was getting so close now. And he was… nervous. He'd never had a full moon without his parents before.

"It's okay," Sirius muttered. "But I really don't think that kind of stuff. Not about anyone."

"Okay…"

Peter slumped in relief. "Can you guys never fight again? Please?"

"What do you mean, never fight?" James asked as he stalked out to meet them, his face having deflated considerably. He still had a few pockmarks though, spread quite consistently over his face. "We have to fight! Fight those Slytherin gits!"

"I mean with each other!" Peter said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's not a big deal, Peter. I fight with my little brother all the time."

"I just want us all to stay friends!" Peter whined desperately.

"Why wouldn't we stay friends?" Sirius asked. "I've said a lot meaner things to my brother than Remus said to me."

Looking up at him, Remus smiled, thankful when Sirius returned the expression.

"What? Why?!" Peter was aghast.

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "Aren't you guys mean to your brothers and sisters?"

They all stared at him blankly.

"You guys do have brothers and sisters, right?"

James shrugged. "I'm an only child."

"Yeah, same," Remus added as he stood back up again.

"Me too," Peter agreed. "I have little cousins, but I have to be nice to them."

"Wow, okay. No wonder you guys are so sensitive."

"I'm not sensitive!" James rebuked, sounding very upset.

"I am," Peter said helplessly.

"I may be an only child, but I'm definitely tougher than all of you guys," Remus said.

"No way!" both James and Sirius said at once.

Remus waved them off and walked away.

"Hey! Come back here and say that again!" James hollered, the other three running swiftly after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These kids are already up to no good, lol. 
> 
> Please leave reviews, guys. It's really important, I'm begging, lol. 
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on twitter--SKayLanphear.


	4. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

Remus tried his best leading up to the full moon not to think about it. Actually having friends had helped distract him, but the inevitable day had come anyway. Feeding his friends an excuse about not feeling well, he'd dissuaded them from coming with him before heading off to the hospital wing. Both McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey had been waiting for him, the latter checking him full over before deciding they were set to go. Taking lesser used routes through the castle, Remus had been led out onto the grounds and around to the whomping willow, which Madam Pomfrey had stalled with a flick of her wand. They'd then descended into the hidden passage beneath the trunk, moving on down the long path. It'd taken them nearly twenty minutes to walk all the way to the shack, Remus having done his best the whole time to keep his breathing steady.

"Well, this is certainly… dismal," McGonagall had said once they'd walked up out of the passage and into the secured room. It'd certainly been miserable. No windows aside from a single one too high up on the wall for anyone to reach, no furniture, no carpeting. Just old hardwood floors and dust.

"I tried to argue that we should at least have a bed," Madam Pomfrey had said, "but Albus and Mr. Lupin's parents said that anything with sharp edges or sides could be dangerous, and that anything soft would be ripped to shreds."

"My goodness…"

"It's fine," Remus had said quietly, moving forward to sit in the center of the room. "You guys can leave."

"Are… Are you sure?" McGonagall had asked, sounding altogether too concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Well…" She'd sighed. "We'll set up the wards." She'd then stepped up behind him and placed a very gentle hand on his shoulder. "I hope you know how very brave you are, Mr. Lupin," she'd murmured.

Her words had Remus blinking very rapidly.

They'd left shortly after, Madam Pomfrey promising to see him first thing in the morning. The silence that had followed had been terrible, Remus eventually giving in to tears as he'd lain back on the floor and stared up at the old rafters. He was very much used to being alone for full moons, but the idea that his mum wouldn't be waiting when it was finished had had him hiccupping in distress. Which hadn't aided in any sense of calm going into the whole thing.

Not that it'd mattered. It'd still been horrible and painful and lonely. His own fears had resulted in the wolf coming out already anxious and upset, the new surroundings making it worse. He'd spent a mere half an hour sniffing around the room before determining there was no escape.

The rest of the night he'd spent scratching and clawing and howling and hurting himself.

When morning had finally come and he'd gone through the painful transformation back into himself, he'd barely been conscious. Both flaky, dried blood and warm wetness had coated him from the throat down, scratches and bites littering his skin anywhere the wolf had been able to get ahold. He'd set himself a goal a few days prior—that he'd get up and pull his clothes on before anyone had the chance to see him. But that'd been impossible and he'd been a bloody, disgusting, crying mess when Madam Pomfrey had finally arrived.

"Oh gracious," she'd said at the sight of him, bustling over and beginning to treat his wounds as best she could, as well as wipe him down. It took her a good hour before he was well enough to get back into his clothes. And even then, the newly closed wounds had been fresh and stretched painfully, some of them even reopening as he'd stumbled around.

It'd all hurt so badly and though he'd tried so, so hard to be strong, he'd collapsed into a sobbing pile of pulsing, hurting skin before he'd even reached the doorway leading out of the shack. Madam Pomfrey must have magicked up a gurney or something, or carried him, because the next thing he remembered, he'd been in the hospital wing. Still weak, still hurting, and still crying.

"Professor Dumbledore is getting your parents, Remus," McGonagall had said above him, looking very pale and very upset as she'd brushed his hair off his sweaty forehead. "They'll be here soon."

He'd only cried harder when his mother had shown up at his bedside, quickly followed by his father. But it'd also been so nice when his mother had reached out and gathered him into her arms, allowing him to cry as hard as he'd wanted as Madan Pomfrey had closed the curtains shut around them.

With the help of some extra potions, he'd finally fallen asleep shortly after.

He was waking up a few hours later, still feeling very sore and very, very tired.

"Mum?" he whispered immediately, very much used to her being there after such horrors.

"I'm right here, love," she said and reached out to take his hand inside her own. Smiling she leaned over him and set a light kiss on his forehead. By the looks of it, he was still in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Which he found himself very thankful for. He'd feared that maybe his parents would have wanted to take him home.

"Is Dad still here?" he asked, his voice very rough and strained.

"He is. He's speaking with Professor McGonagall at the moment."

"Is it okay?" Remus asked. "That I'm in Gryffindor? Is that okay?"

She smiled down at him. "Of course—we couldn't be prouder."

"The sorting hat said I was clever enough for Ravenclaw," he continued. "But put me in Gryffindor."

"While I certainly am no expert, Gryffindor sounds like a very fine place to be to me," she said.

"I share a room with three other boys," he said after releasing a rather hard series of coughs. "There's James, and Sirius, and Peter."

"And you all get along?"

"Yeah." Remus closed his eyes. "James says we're friends."

His mother squeezed his hand tighter. "That's wonderful."

"Ah, you're awake." It was Dumbledore who approached, Remus doing his best to look up at him through his bleary eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Remus thought a moment and decided that maybe lying to Dumbledore would be a bad idea. Besides, his mother would know the truth.

"Not very good," he said quietly.

Dumbledore hummed. "No, I would imagine not. Madam Pomfrey says you were in quite a state when she came for you."

"It'll get better," Remus said quickly, once again fearing that maybe plans to make him leave were in the works. "After a few full moons, it won't be so bad." He hoped.

"Yes, that's what your parents said," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling a bit as he smiled. "Not to worry—we're still quite prepared to keep you. And your parents were already in agreement that they should be on standby during the full moons. Though I think maybe they ought to simply floo in to be with you until you're a little more used to the new arrangements, hm?"

Until the wolf was used to them, anyway.

"Okay…" Remus said quietly, not really that upset at the change.

"Are you hungry?" Dumbledore asked then. "It's nearly time for lunch."

"Um, yes," Remus admitted quietly, doing his best to try and sit up. The fresh cuts and scratches still pulled painfully and his mother had to help him.

"I'll have the house elves bring something up for you and your parents," he said. "Any requests?"

Thinking, Remus bit his bottom lip, becoming suddenly nervous.

His mother petted his hair. "It's alright, love, you can be honest," she said.

"I'm not picky," he muttered. "But, um, if—if there's meat, can it be… can it be less done?" He cringed.

Dumbledore chuckled and looked very kind. "Of course. I'll put in a special note to the elves—they'll make your meals specific from now on."

"Oh, no, don't do that," he said quickly. "I don't… I don't want anyone else…" The great hall was quite too crowded for that.

"Well, whenever you happen to be eating outside the great hall, they'll know," he assured.

"Okay. Thank you, Sir."

"My pleasure, Mr. Lupin." Nodding once, he turned and headed out past the curtains, just as his father was coming through. He was followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, you're looking much better now," she said, visibly relieved. "Much less pale and fevered."

Remus looked down at his lap. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," his father cut in as he came up on his other side. "Professor McGonagall was simply worried. This is all very new for her, you know."

"Yes, very much so," McGonagall agreed. "I'm generally willing to admit when I'm quite outside my element. You may need to help me in future, Mr. Lupin." Not his father, but him, or so it seemed, as she was looking right at him. "Is that alright? You can teach me just as I'm teaching you, yes?"

Remus managed a small smile. "Alright."

"Very good."

"Professor McGonagall has gathered the lessons you've missed this morning," his father said, a few sheets of parchment in his hands. "Would you like to work on them?"

"Yeah, okay," he agreed. He was set up for reading shortly after, his text books having already been brought up from his dorm. He tried his best, but was still a bit too tired to focus. Still, it was nice to at least pretend to be busy.

Once lunch arrived, everything was set aside and he was left alone with his parents. He talked to them some about his first week, but he was practically falling asleep again by the time he was finished with his meal.

The next time he woke up, it was to familiar voices.

"Now, has one of you been jinxed again?" Madam Pomfrey asked from the other side of the curtain. Remus already knew who else was there—he could smell them—and so wasn't surprised at the voice that followed.

"No, we came to find Remus," James said simply, already sounding very stubborn and haughty. "Where is he?"

"He's been gone all night and all day," Sirius added, his voice very accusing.

"Mr. Lupin was ill and is recovering," Madam Pomfrey replied. Remus, meanwhile, was opening his eyes, continuing to listen in silently, just as his parents did much the same from either side of his bed.

"Is he _dying_?" Peter asked, obviously terrified at the idea.

"No, of course not," Madam Pomfrey said strictly. "He's merely ill. Don't jump to ridiculous conclusions."

Remus laughed a bit to himself, which earned him an amused smile from his mother.

"Well, where is he?" James demanded.

"I bet he's back there, behind those curtains," Sirius decided.

"Now, Mr. Black, do not go snooping around my wing. Mr. Lupin is resting and you three should be getting to work on your studies. Or at least be outside on such a fine day."

"We'll wait here until Remus wakes up," James said petulantly.

"No, you most certainly will not. I've seen how rambunctious boys your age can be. Now go, shoo, get out. All three of you are in perfect health, so there's no reason for you to be here."

"But—"

"Mr. Black, if you make one more attempt to get at that curtain, I'll take fifty points from you house and assign you a month's worth of detentions! Now, be gone with you! All three of you!"

"No!" James was still fighting back. "We want to at least see that he's breathing!"

"He's breathing just fine, Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey sounded very blustery.

Sighing quietly, Remus' father pushed himself to his feet and headed around the bed, before he slipped out beyond the curtains.

"Mr. Black, don't lay down on the floor! Mr. _Potter_!"

"That's enough, boys," Remus' father's voice cut in, a bit stricter than usual. "Don't get yourselves into trouble."

"Who're you?" Sirius asked rudely.

"Oh, I bet you're Remus' dad!" Peter deduced quickly, which Remus had to admit surprised him.

"Why would you think that?" James asked.

"Well, he looks just like him." Peter then gasped. "But if you're here, then it must be really bad! He _is_ dying, isn't he?!"

"No, no, he's not dying," Lyall—Remus' father—assured calmly. "He's alright, but you three are causing quite the ruckus. I think your matron has better things to do than chase you about the hospital wing."

"Indeed," Madam Pomfrey agreed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir," James said very formally and Remus imagined he was holding his hand out for Lyall to shake. "I'm James Potter. And this here is Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Remus is our very good friend and we'd very much like to see that he's still breathing and not dying."

"I'm Lyall Lupin. Remus is sleeping, so it'd be best to leave him to it."

"I'll wake him up," Sirius said. "HEY, REMUS! ARE YOU ALIVE BACK THERE?!"

"Mr. Black!" Madam Pomfrey was definitely mad now.

"Desist shouting," Lyall said very, very firmly. "No—Don't—Get off the floor right now, young man."

"I SEE A SET OF LADY SHOES UNDER THERE!" Sirius announced. "REMUS! ARE YOU WEARING LADY SHOES?!"

"That's probably his mum, you prat," James scolded.

"His MUM?!" Sirius said, far too excited now. "His _muggle_ mum?!"

"Oh, I've never met a muggle before!" James jumped in on his excitement.

"Me neither! I wanna meet her!" Sirius continued.

"Oh, I wanna meet a muggle too!" Peter piped in.

"That is _enough_!" Madam Pomfrey was at her wits' end. "You three need to leave right now or I'll floo Professor McGonagall up here to fetch you herself! Is that what you want?!"

"McGonagall and I are super close," James said confidently. "Ever since our first detention together last Friday. It was love at first yell."

"Yeah, they really hit it off," Sirius added.

"We had a grand old time."

"For goodness sake…" Madam Pomfrey muttered.

"Ask Remus. He was there."

Eyes going wide, Remus sank some in his bed as his mother turned a very startled frown his way.

"My son was in detention with you on Friday?" Lyall asked.

"Oh yeah. I mean, we all got detention, but McGonagall didn't wanna deal with us all at once so she's making Peter and Sirius serve theirs tonight and—ow! Sirius!"

"You snitch!" Sirius hissed.

"I'm not snitching! I didn't say what we did to end up in detention!"

"What did you do to end up in detention?" Lyall asked.

"I told you, I'm no snitch," James reiterated.

"You idiot!" Sirius snapped. "Now Remus is in trouble."

"Why would he be in trouble? McGonagall already punished us. Besides, detentions are normal and healthy."

"Who told you that?" Lyall asked.

"My dad."

"Well, not all dads are like your dad!" Sirius hissed. "You better not go telling _my_ dad about our detentions!"

"Ow! Okay! Sorry!"

"Don't tell my dad either," Peter said quickly.

"Maybe I'll send all your parents letters about it," Lyall threatened, which had Remus closing his eyes in mortification. Taking hold of his blanket, he pulled it up over his head.

"I hardly think that's necessary," James retorted.

"Do you, now?" Lyall asked.

"Please, please don't do that," Sirius said, sounding very, well, serious. "My mum is already mad I'm a Gryffindor—I don't want to make it any worse. If you promise not to tell her, I promise not to marry any of my cousins."

"Excuse me?"

"Remus said you think purebloods are going to ruin the wizarding world by marrying their cousins," Sirius explained, causing Remus to groan against his blanket. "I promise not to marry any of my cousins if you don't send a letter to my mum."

"I'm gonna marry Professor McGonagall," James said, sounding very proud.

"I think you guys should stop talking," Peter advised wisely.

"That is a very good idea," Madam Pomfrey said through her teeth.

"Alright, boys, if I give you each a chocolate bar, will you leave?" Lyall asked, defeated.

Thoughtful silence.

"Yeah, okay," James agreed.

Lyall sighed. "Very good."

There was some rustling, Remus supposing his father must be reaching into his robes for the chocolate before handing it out.

"Hey, wait a second," Sirius said. "Remus loves chocolate. Here, give these candy bars to him."

"Yeah, give them to Remus," James agreed.

More rustling while the chocolate bars were handed back.

"Very generous," Lyall said flatly. "Now, time to go. C'mon, let's go, let's go."

"BYE, REMUS!" James yelled.

"SEE YA, REMU!" Sirius tacked on.

"BYE!" Peter added.

"WE'LL WAIT TILL YOU COME BACK TO DO OUR NEXT RITUAL SACRIFICE!" Sirius said lastly.

Lowering his blanket, Remus stared up at the ceiling until he was certain they were gone.

"They sound like… nice boys," his mother decided.

"They're terrible and I hate them," Remus decided, not meaning a word of it.

He was already looking very much ashamed when his father returned.

"Detention?" he said from the end of the bed, his arms crossing over his chest. "I made it my entire seven years at Hogwarts without once getting a detention and you have one in your first week?"

Remus did his best to look very tired, sick, and pathetic. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

If it hadn't just been a full moon, he imagined there'd be more follow-up. But, instead, his father simply gave him a "look" for a very long time before moving back to sit beside the bed. He was then forced to work on his lessons for half an hour, before he was nodding off again.

"I'm afraid these friends of his may be a bad influence," he heard his father say above him, at one point.

"I think they were all quite charming," his mother replied.

Lyall grunted.

When he woke up next, it was nearly dark. Which was a bit disheartening, as it meant he'd lost a whole day. But dinner helped in aiding his depression over the whole ordeal, as well as a more animated chat with his parents, now that he felt a little more himself. Still, he was plenty ready for more sleep as the night dragged on, morning light flooding in through the windows when he found himself waking up next. His parents were snoozing in their chairs beside him, so he stayed quiet and watched them until breakfast arrived.

"Can I go to lessons today?" Remus asked, when Madam Pomfrey came in to check on him.

"Absolutely not," she said as she doctored his many cuts and bites. "You'll do your schoolwork here, like yesterday, and then you'll go straight to your dormitory after supper for bed."

Pouting, Remus flopped back against the pillows and became quiet. His mother managed to lure a better attitude out of him after about half an hour, however, and working on his lessons (delivered by McGonagall) with his father was pleasant enough, especially since they got to explain everything he was learning to his mother and even demonstrate the very rudimentary spells Remus was allowed.

At about the same time as the day before, his friends again tried to stampede their way in to see him, but Madam Pomfrey was turning them back out before they'd even managed to make it through the doors.

"And can you send all my science books after you go back home?" he asked sometime after that. "Sirius wants to read them."

"I think we can manage that," his mother assured.

His parents stayed until his final checkup, which came just after he'd eaten dinner. Having changed into a clean uniform, he did his best to look strong and capable despite how shaky and pale he was. Madam Pomfrey didn't look altogether happy with the results, but didn't force him to stay another night either.

"We'll see you next month, love," his mother said, after he was finally released. He'd return to his dormitory and they'd floo home from Dumbledore's office.

Bending down, she hugged him tight in farewell, before his father dipped and did the same.

"No more detentions," he said firmly.

"Okay." But Remus didn't meet his eyes.

They parted ways shortly after, Remus holding his bag full of the last two days' worth of lessons as he slowly made his way to Gryffindor tower. He would have liked to move faster, but his injuries hurt quite terribly and he didn't want to stretch them more than necessary.

Reaching the portrait hole, he spouted the password and skirted in quietly, thankful that none of the older students hanging around in the common room took much notice of him. Going to the stairs, he used the railing to pull himself up, a bit annoyed at how out of breath he was by the time he reached the first year door.

Pausing just outside it, he did his best to temper his nerves. He knew his friends were on the other side—he could smell them again—and that they'd be very curious and interested in what had happened to him. And seeing as the truth was completely out of the question, he'd have to lie his way out of it.

The best thing, then, was to act as unbothered and normal as possible, even if he did still feel under the weather.

Huffing, he took hold of the door handle and, at the last moment, decided to go for a very dramatic entrance. James and Sirius would appreciate that.

"HEY!" he yelled as he threw the door open, causing it to swing violently around and slam into the wall.

The other three boys were sitting at the center of the room on the floor, their school books and papers strewn around on the carpet. Both Sirius and James were visibly startled by his violent entrance, while Peter squeaked.

Blinking up at him, they stared for a few heavy beats as Remus loomed in the doorway (as much as someone his size could loom, anyway), before Sirius opened his mouth—

And screamed.

Screamed as loud as he could, which of course inspired James to start doing the same, the two of them screaming and screaming and screaming. It sounded quite as if they were both being brutally murdered, Peter becoming continually more horrified as he looked between them. The seconds ticked by, they occasionally took a breath, and kept shrieking.

Remus smirked.

"What is going on in here?!"

Of course one of the prefects had come to check on them. He looked very hurried and upset as he burst up behind Remus, who finally stumbled forward into the room.

James and Sirius quieted immediately.

"Well?! What is it?!" the prefect demanded, still very distressed.

"Nothing," Sirius said simply.

"Just felt like having a good scream," James added.

Hands coming up like wavering claws, the prefect glared between them all. "You four…" he growled through gritted teeth.

"What?" Remus asked very innocently.

Huffing, the prefect pointed accusingly at each of them, clearly wanting to say more but putting forth enough self-control not to. Before he slammed his hands to his sides and stomped back down the stairs.

They immediately burst into a fit of giggles. All but Peter.

"I think our own house hates us," he said.

"We did lose Gryffindor sixty points between us all last week," Remus pointed out as he went to shut their door and move across the room to his bed.

"And me and James lost another fifteen this morning," Sirius added.

Peter slumped. "Yeah, they definitely hate us."

Hopping to his feet, James scurried over to Remus, who was very carefully lowering himself to his bed so as to disturb his injuries as little as possible. Thankfully, most everything the wolf had done to him was covered by his robes, so none of his friends could see the bandages and grizzly marks.

"What happened to you?" James asked, sounding as equally concerned as he was demanding. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let us see you."

"We tried to visit you twice," Sirius added as he came up beside James.

"We met your dad," Peter added, standing at the end of the bed.

"Yeah, I heard you guys," Remus admitted.

Sirius huffed. "Why didn't you say anything? We were really worried."

"Sorry." Thankfully, it didn't take much for him to look both exhausted and pitiful, which always made it easier for other people to forgive his impasses. "I was really out of it for a while."

"Why?" James demanded again.

"Just a really bad fever," Remus lied. "I, um, don't react very well to flu bugs and stuff. Prone to bad reactions, you know…"

"Oh…" James wilted. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, just tired," Remus said, happy to have moved on to a point where he could be honest.

Reaching up, James placed the back of his hand against Remus' forehead. "Are you sure? You look really pale."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Madam Pomfrey said I could start going back to classes tomorrow."

"We wanted to bring you your homework, but all the professors said McGonagall was taking it to you," Sirius said.

"She did. My dad helped me with it."

"So you're done?!" Peter asked hastily. "Did you finish the charms homework?!"

"Well, sure."

Peter's hands came together beneath his chin. "Please help me!"

"He's sick, Peter!" Sirius said sharply.

"It's okay, I wanna help." Setting his bag aside, Remus went to stand, but was knocked off-kilter when his head rocked, leaving him dizzy and unsteady. Slipping back down onto his bed, he blinked wide as his friends tensed, each of them prepared to catch him.

"Maybe you'd better rest," James said very seriously.

"I'll be okay in a minute."

"No, just lie down and rest," Sirius practically growled out, which had Remus glaring up at him.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"You're sick!"

"I said I'm gonna help Peter!"

"Stop fighting," James said firmly, his tone sufficiently silencing them both. "Stay in bed, Remus. We'll bring our work up to you if any of us needs your help."

Supposing there was no point in arguing, as resting really did sound like the best course, Remus huffed and nodded. Reaching down, he removed his shoes and slid back on his bed, while Peter hurried over to where he'd left his work on the floor. He was back at Remus' side a second later. Climbing up onto the bed beside him, he laid his books out and quietly explained the issues he was having. Thankful to have something else to focus on, Remus did his very best to help. James and Sirius, meanwhile, retreated back to the floor. Remus did notice that they whispered some to each other, each looking very grave.

He ignored it as best he could.

"What'd you write for this theory question?" Sirius eventually came up and asked him, producing his transfiguration homework as he climbed up onto the bed opposite Peter.

"Yeah, we wanted to see what you wrote," James explained, climbing up lastly and settling near Remus' feet.

"Uh, McGonagall helped me with that one, actually," he admitted.

"What?! But she's the one that assigned it!" Sirius was outraged.

Remus shrugged. "She was there when my dad and I were working on it. And I think she felt bad for me."

"Well, what's the answer, then?" James asked.

"We can't use the same answer if McGonagall helped him," Peter pointed out. "She'll know for sure that we copied."

"So what?" Sirius asked. "All the more reason. She has to know that of _course_ we're going to copy if she gave Remus the answer."

"She didn't give me the answer, she helped," Remus corrected.

They all stared at him expectantly.

"And of course you can copy it," he finished, already pulling the sheet of parchment from his bag.

"I really like transfiguration," Sirius said after a moment of silence, all of them quite focused as they re-wrote Remus' answer "in their own words." "It's so cool how McGonagall can turn into a cat. I hope we get to learn that someday."

"To become an animagus?" James asked. "I don't think that's something they teach—it's supposed to be really, really hard, isn't it?"

"I thought there were less than ten in the whole ministry," Peter added.

"Well, there's got to be books and stuff. Maybe I'll ask McGonagall," Sirius decided. "I wanna be a dragon."

"I wanna be a tyrannosaurus rex," James said.

Peter hummed. "I think I'd like to be a lion. You know, for Gryffindor."

"I don't think you get to pick," Remus pointed out. "You just become, you know, whatever you are. On the inside."

"I'm definitely a dragon on the inside," Sirius said firmly.

"What about you, Remus?" Peter asked. "What kind of animal do you wanna be?"

Suddenly unable to look any of them in the eye, Remus fiddled with his comforter and shrugged. "Don't know…"

"I wonder what it feels like, to turn into an animal," Sirius continued. "Like, growing hair and claws and wings and stuff. Do you think it hurts?"

"I don't think so. McGonagall didn't look bothered when she changed," James pointed out.

"Could you guys hurry up?" Remus asked, sounding very weary. "I'm getting tired."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," James said quickly. "You can lie down, Remus. We'll be quiet."

Sliding forward, he did as James advised and curled up with his hands under his head on the pillow. The scratching of quills nearly lulled him to sleep, but James—apparently being the responsible one—gently shook him once they were done and helped him get up. He needed to change into his pajamas, and so was left alone in the bathroom to do so ("I noticed you don't like to change when we're around, so we'll wait till you're done.").

Once finished, he stumbled back into bed. Moving around so much left his whole body throbbing, enflamed with his recent wounds. His breathing was shaky as he watched his friends pass back and forth, a bit of a chill echoing down his skin even as a light layer of sweat appeared on his brow.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius eventually asked, on the verge of climbing into his own bed as he looked Remus' way.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow," Remus said, hoping it was true.

James came over then, sidling up beside Remus' bed as he cocked his head sideways to look at him. "Do you want one of us to stay with you?"

"Stay with me?" Remus laughed, but it came out more like a cough. "You guys are already here."

"Well, yeah, but…" James frowned, his cheeks going a little pink. "When I'm sick, sometimes my mum or dad will sleep with me."

Remus went red too. "No thanks."

"It's not a big deal," Sirius butted in, moving to stand beside James. "I sleep with my baby brother when he's sick."

"I'm not your baby brother," Remus snapped.

"He's only a year and half younger than us…" Sirius muttered.

"I'm fine, really," Remus said. "You guys worry too much. Just go to bed."

The two shared a look, but did slink off to their owns beds.

Even so, their offer did have Remus thinking of his mum despite having only seen her a little while before.

Reaching out, he grabbed hold of his wolf plush and hugged it to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Remus, he's just tryin' to be normal. Those boys though--Lyall didn't stand a chance. 
> 
> PLEASE leave comments--they're very, very much appreciated. 
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on twitter--SKayLanphear.


	5. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

The first few days after his return from the hospital wing were tense, Remus' friends seemingly under the impression that he was likely to keel over at any moment. But once his strength returned, they moved on from the incident, able to bounce back to their previous rapport with little issue. Which was to the annoyance of everyone else in their house, as they were gradually earning a reputation for being troublemakers. This resulted in a very consistent loss of house points on their end. Despite his father's warning, Remus ended up in detention twice in the next two weeks. Once for laughing too much with James at the back of their charms lesson, and later for yelling profanely across the courtyard at a group of Slytherins who'd been glaring at Sirius (naturally, his friends had also started yelling profanities to show support for him, and so similar punishments had been doled out to them). They were consistently given the cold shoulder in the common room as a result, but seeing as they were quite content with each other's company and had a knack for rebuffing reprimands in general, they carried on much the same.

"I'm so glad it's Friday," Sirius said as he collapsed in the grass just beside the lake. "Now we can procrastinate until Sunday."

"You can," Remus said. "I'm already finished."

"That's because you're just so smart, Remu."

"No, it's because I actually studied during study hall, instead of throwing bits of paper at the Slytherins."

"They deserved it," James said and plopped down beside Sirius.

"Yes, because paper balls are such a grave punishment."

"We were covering them in our spit first," Sirius reasoned.

Peter frowned as he sat down beside Sirius. "You guys are so gross."

"Not like we could make them much dirtier. At least not Snivellus." Sirius laughed. "I have to think he just doesn't know how a shower works."

"Why do you guys call him Snivellus?" Remus asked and finally took a seat beside James.

"Met him on the train before you came into our compartment," James explained. "Was a whiny, sleazy git going on about how great Slytherin is."

"I think maybe he knew who I was and expected me to agree," Sirius added. "Except us Blacks at least know how to bathe. As if we'd affiliate with such filth."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You guys are snobs."

"You've _seen_ how gross he is."

"Hey, isn't that him?" Peter asked, nodding off down the edge of the lake. "I think he's coming over."

James released a long suffering sigh, but it was interrupted when Sirius sat up and jabbed him in the side.

"Bet he still has our spit balls in his hair," Sirius said, grinning. "Didn't even notice this morning at breakfast."

James snickered.

"He really is headed this way," Remus said. "Right for us."

"Aye, it's ol' Snivellus," James shouted, once Snape was close enough to hear.

"Don't call me that," Snape said fiercely, his hands balling into trembling fists at his sides. He really was a big-nosed, greasy-haired bean-pole. And while Remus didn't always approve of James and Sirius being mean to him, he was a bit of a nasty prat. Besides, they were always on their guard against Slytherins. The whole house seemed to have it out for Sirius, always glaring at him and whispering in plain sight.

Not much in the mood for a back and forth right after class, Remus kept them on track. "What do you want, Snape?" he said straight.

"I'm here with a message for Black," he spat. "Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy require your presence at the Slytherin table for dinner."

Sirius laughed. "But I'm a Gryffindor."

"I don't care," Snape spat. "I'm just telling you what they said."

"Why bother?" James asked. "Are they making you?"

"No. I volunteered. It's the respectful thing to do. Not that you lot would know anything about that."

"Why would you do that? Because of the oh-so great houses of Black and Malfoy?" Sirius asked. "I don't see you showing me any respect."

"Because you're mucking everything up." Snape sneered. "Don't you even care a little bit about your blood reputation?"

"My 'pure blood?'" Sirius asked. "Why do _you_ care so much about it, huh?"

"You should be setting an example!"

Sirius waved him off. "Tell them to leave me alone."

"Tell them yourself!"

"You're the messenger," Remus pointed out.

"Keep out of it, cat-scratch!"

James and Sirius were on their feet at once, their wands held up at Snape's very large nose.

"Hear that from your Slytherin buddies, did you?" Sirius asked. "Must have, because I know you're not smart enough to have come up with it yourself."

Snape snarled. "Get your wands out of my face!"

"Now, now." Poking his wand upward, Sirius pressed the tip into Snape's forehead. "What did I say about showing me some respect?"

"You're wasting your potential!" Snape hissed.

"And you're wasting our time," James rebuked. "You ever call Remus that again and we'll hex you."

Having stood, both Remus and Peter remained behind the other two, though Remus wouldn't say he was nearly as upset as Peter at their friends for threatening Snape. As a result of being friends with Sirius, the other three had all become targets of ridicule from the Slytherins. Every time he walked by, Remus heard them whispering and laughing about his scars. Or Peter's weight. Or James' darker skin. It was getting very old very fast.

"You two are too thick to even know any hexes," Snape dared say.

James poked his wand into Snape's throat. "You wanna bet?"

"Hey! What are you guys doing?! Stop!"

Turning to look up the hill, they all watched as one of their fellow Gryffindor first years came barreling toward them, looking furious. Remus had learned her name was Lily, though for a while she'd been "that redheaded girl he'd seen on the train with Snape." As of then, her green eyes were blazing, her own wand held at her side.

"Leave him alone!" she said as she met them, fearlessly pushing her way in front of Snape and shoving both Sirius and James off-balance.

"He's the one being a prat!" Sirius rebuked.

"Please, you guys are _always_ the ones being prats!" she scolded. "You lost all the points I earned in charms because you two," she looked first at James and then back to Remus, "couldn't keep your mouths shut. The word 'eructo' is not that funny!"

Both Sirius and James snorted with barely contained laughter. Remus had to clear his throat.

Peter still didn't get it.

"They're not worth it, Lily," Snape cut in. "They're juveniles."

"Oi, Snivellus, would you like us to 'engorgio' your 'eructo?'" Sirius asked. "Bet you need it."

"Sod-off!" Lily snapped, while Snape sputtered in red-faced fury.

"I don't understand," Peter whispered to Remus, who waved him off.

"I mean, we don't need that spell ourselves, but we're nice enough to help you out, Snivellus," James added.

"You two don't even know how to do an engorgio charm in the first place!" Snape hissed. "Apparently all you can do is read the 'E' section of the charms index! Though I'm shocked any of you can read at all!"

"He's not denying that he needs help, though," Sirius muttered through the side of his mouth, which caused James to laugh again.

"Ugh, you guys are the worst! Everyone in Gryffindor thinks so!" Lily said and turned to grab Snape by the arm. "C'mon, Severus, let's go." Without a single look back, she marched off, Snape in tow behind her.

"I don't get why she's friends with him," James said, once they were well out of earshot.

"Because she should want to be friends with us instead?" Remus asked.

"Hey, maybe our own house does hate us, but we're still a step up from Snivellus."

"A very good point," Sirius agreed.

"Will someone please explain 'eructo' to me?" Peter asked. "Every time you guys bring it up, I ask, and then you guys just laugh."

"You'll understand when you're older, Pete," James said and patted him on the shoulder.

"Remus? C'm _on_!" Peter had turned his way.

Nose curling, Remus shied away. "I'm not explaining it. You explain, Sirius."

"Me? But…" Sirius looked between them all helplessly. "It's, well, you know, it's like…" He bent his arm at the elbow a few times, as if that should illustrate his point. "It's just—Oh never mind, Pete, it's a stupid joke anyway. Don't worry about it."

"You guys are mean! You're all laughing and I get left out!"

"Be grateful. You got left out of detention too," James pointed out.

"I'm just glad that Flitwick didn't notice I was making gross gestures," Sirius said through a grin. "He was so focused on you two."

"Just don't tell my father about it, alright?" Remus said. "I might actually have to tell him _why_ I've been in detention so many times if you guys can't keep your mouths shut."

"I said I was sorry!" James sounded desperate.

"Your father wouldn't like a penis joke?" Sirius asked, though obviously he knew the answer.

"No, he wouldn't. He'd be… very disappointed in me, I think." Remus cringed.

"Penis? OH! I get it now!"

"Good job, Pete." James clapped him on the shoulder again.

"Your father was a Ravenclaw, you said?" Sirius asked. "Does he even like jokes?"

"Oh sure, but not stupid jokes."

"Ah."

"My dad likes plenty of stupid jokes," James said.

"My dad never gets jokes," said Peter.

"I don't think I've ever even seen my dad laugh," Sirius said and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"My dad doesn't really 'laugh,'" Remus explained. "He kind of hums, you know? Like, 'hmm, hmm' under his breath, but you pretty much know he doesn't _actually_ think you're funny."

"Oh! That's the same way you were laughing when James and I kept farting on the way to… Wait a second."

Remus eyed him knowingly and turned to head back toward the castle.

"Where you going?" James asked.

"Snape ruined this place—I'm going back to the dorms to read."

"He's right, it is ruined now." Sirius nodded. "We'll come with you."

"Hey, wait, can someone help me practice the levitation charm?" Peter asked. "I still can't get my feather to do anything except roll over."

"Yeah, sure, Pete," James agreed as they tromped back up the stairs into the castle. "We all need the practice, really. Only Remus is decent."

"Hey, I got my feather all the way to the ceiling last time," Sirius pointed out.

"But you couldn't get it to come back down," Remus reminded.

"It was just too light. We should be learning with, like, rocks or something."

Peter frowned. "Wouldn't something heavier be harder to work with?"

"I dunno, let's see." Sirius pointed his wand at Peter.

"That's not funny!"

"Don't worry, Pete, he couldn't lift you up anyway," Remus assured. "Weight does make a difference, at least in the beginning. That's what our textbook says anyway."

"But what if all of us did it at the same time?" Sirius asked, peering upward at the high ceiling of the turret looming above them. "Bet we could get you all the way to the top."

"And not get me back down," Peter said simply.

"Remu could get you down."

"Not by myself."

"Remus isn't the one that needs practice anyway," James pointed out. "He's the best in our whole charms class."

"So far," Sirius muttered and brandished a glare in Remus' direction. One that was readily returned.

"I'm the one that needs practice, not the one you guys should be levitating," Peter made perfectly clear.

"Then let's try and get Remus to the top," Sirius decided.

Remus snorted. "What?"

"I bet," Sirius grinned, "that between me, James, and Peter, we could float you all the way to the ceiling and back."

Humming thoughtfully, Remus pooched his lips and stared upward at the ceiling that was at least ten stories above their heads.

"All the way to the ceiling and back without killing me?" Remus asked.

"Obviously."

He hummed a little longer. "Yeah, okay."

"What?! No! Remus!" Peter tittered back and forth.

"It's the best way to lean," Sirius assured. "Pressure's on!"

"Are you guys really serious? Remus? No, guys, come on!"

"Let's do it," Remus said. Dropping his school bag, he stepped up between them. "Remember to correctly accent the incantation, and spread out where you're pointing your wands. Don't aim for my head."

"Stop being a know-it-all," Sirius snapped and raised his wand. "We know what we're doing."

"The whole point is that you _don't_ know what you're doing." Yet, even so, Remus raised his arms to either side, to give them better targets.

"I'll take his right arm," James decided, also having raised his wand. "You take his left, Sirius. C'mon, Pete, buck up."

"This isn't what I meant by practice," Peter muttered, but raised his own wand anyway.

"You aim for his back," Sirius said. "But don't put too much force into it or you'll knock him on his face."

"Yeah, my face gets made fun of enough as it is."

"You have a beautiful face, Remu," Sirius assured.

"Just lovely," James agreed. "Alright, here we go," he continued. "On three. One, two—"

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " they all chanted at once, Remus honestly surprised that they were so in sync. Even Peter got the inflection right.

"Ah, it's working," Remus said quite flatly, looking down at his feet as they lifted just slightly off the floor. He could feel a generous amount of tugging on his arms and the slightest draft against his back. "Put a bit more juice into it, Peter," he advised.

"Yeah, pull your weight, Peter," Sirius agreed.

"I'm trying not to hurt him!"

"Sirius, you're pulling him up too fast on your side," James said as Remus' left side slowly started tugging him sideways. "Try to match me."

"Why don't you match me?" Sirius asked, the three of them gradually lifting their heads as Remus floated on above them.

"Because you're the one that can't bring things back down. Besides, we don't want to leave Peter behind."

"I'm trying as best I can!" Peter said through gritted teeth.

"Sirius, I mean it, back it off," James said again. "Look, now he's turning on his side. _And_ he's off-center."

" _You_ push him back," Sirius ordered.

Remus, meanwhile, looked around a bit and took note of all the cobwebs lining the turret's upper ramparts. Did the house elves not clean here?

"That's _too much_ juice, Peter," James said. "You pushed too hard."

"Well, pull him back straight!" Peter said, sounding a little shakier on the whole thing.

"We are, but it's just—Ugh, look, now he's floating upside-down," Sirius sputtered.

"You guys are not doing so great right now," Remus said once he was full upside-down and could get a look at them standing at least two stories beneath his head. "My blood is rushing to my brain."

"His blood is rushing, Peter," Sirius snapped. "Look what you did."

"It's not my fault!"

"I have to pull my legs in, look," Remus was folding them down so he was caught in a bit of a ball. "Gravity wants them to be flopping about because you guys are still trying to support me from my arms."

"We need to turn him back around," James decided.

"Well, we might as well just keep doing what we're doing—eventually he'll spin back right side up," Sirius said.

"But if we don't correct our balance, then he'll keep spinning all the way—"

"What are you boys doing with your wands up?" Remus could feel it when their attention snapped to Professor McGonagall. Peter's weight on his back dissipated entirely, while James' faltered and Sirius' own attempts jolted, trying to shoot him into the ceiling. "My goodness! Mr. Lupin!" She noticed him just as all connection broke, Remus' eyes going wide as he dropped toward the floor.

"Oh no!"

"Bullocks!"

"Bloody hell!"

"Fuck!" Remus had half-expected his swearing to be cut short by his face smashing into the floor, but he came to a halt with only inches to spare, his voice echoing loudly before he was placed gently back on the ground.

"What were you three thinking?!" McGonagall was on the others in a flash, while Remus scrambled to his feet and patted down the thighs of his school pants. "What were you trying to do?! You've only just learned levitation charms! Were you trying to get him killed?!"

"We were just practicing," Sirius muttered.

"Then practice on your feathers! Not your fellow students! Aren't you three meant to be Mr. Lupin's friends?!"

"We are…" Peter said lamely.

"Remus said it was alright," James explained easily enough. "Also, those green robes really make your eyes pop, Professor. You look simply ravishing."

"Cut the sweet talk, Potter, you're eleven years old," she said swiftly. "And you!" She finally turned on Remus, whose eyes bugged just a bit. "Did you encourage your friends to do this?!"

"I, uh…" He flicked his gaze quickly to James, who was absolutely no help. "I guess?"

"Have you no sense of self-preservation?!" she asked furiously.

He looked then to Sirius, who shrugged.

"No?" he eventually settled on.

"For Merlin's sake!" she fumed. "All of you, detentions tomorrow morning!"

They groaned.

"And ten points from Gryffindor each!"

"No!" Peter whined.

"And ten more from you, Mr. Lupin, for that dirty mouth of yours! I hear another profane word leave your lips and your parents will be hearing about it!"

Remus stared down at his feet.

"I just can't believe…" McGonagall huffed and stormed away. "First Years! They're _first years_!"

"Probably shoulda waited till we were back in our dorm," Sirius muttered.

"Probably," Remus agreed.

"You four are about the worst Gryffindors anyone's ever seen, aren't you?" Whipping around, the four boys watched as two Slytherins came skulking down the corridor toward them. By the look of them, they were at least third or fourth years. Remus assumed that, under normal circumstances, they wouldn't even bother with first years. But Sirius Black was a Gryffindor and apparently that justified all sorts of harassment. Not that Remus held it against his friend, of course.

"We heard one of your sixth years bemoaning that you four had already lost your house nearly a hundred points," the second boy added. "By the end of the school year, you'll have put Gryffindor so far into the negatives that you'll set a new record."

They laughed, while Remus and his friends glared.

"Bugger off," Sirius hissed out. "And mind your own business."

"Makes me wonder…" the first boy continued anyway. "After all, if this is going to be your first year legacy, maybe you really did end up in the wrong house." He was looking directly at Sirius, who Remus knew did his best not to let all this stuff bother him, but was still insecure about the whole thing.

"The only thing wrong here is you guys," Remus interjected swiftly, just as James was also opening his mouth to speak. "Don't you have anything better to do than waste your time with first years? Or are you just so afraid to talk to the Blacks in your own house with such disrespect that you figure you stand a better chance with us?"

"Shut your mouth, crater face. Nobody asked you to talk."

"Sod-off!" James said harshly. "You two are the ones with crater face! Teenagers covered in zip pits—that's you!"

"Shut your mouth, mudwallower, or I'll shut it for you!"

"Leave us alone!" Peter said fiercely, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

"And what are you gonna do, lard-ass?" the second boy said. "You can't even do a proper levitation spell. Maybe stop stuffing your face and take a minute to study, hm?"

Remus bubbled with rage. "At least he could lose weight if he wanted to," he started. "You, on the other hand, will always be a cunt with wide, feminine hips and a nose big enough to plot the whole school."

Sirius and James audibly gasped.

"You little shit!" the older boy snarled, his wand already pulled up as he leveled it at Remus' face, who flinched back in preparation for the incoming jinx.

Sirius slid swiftly in front of him, arms outstretched at his sides as he became a human shield. Which did well enough in stoppering the other boy's words before they could leave his tongue.

"Let's see how long you last after Andromeda and Narcissa learn you jinxed me," he said dangerously. "I'm betting that won't end well for either of you."

Both boys glared, one continuing to hold his wand tip dangerously close to Sirius' nose. The tension snapped for a few heavy moments, before the two Slytherins finally took a step back. Remus thought they were going to back off, but just as he and his friends were beginning to relax, the boy flicked his wand over Sirius' shoulder and muttered something under his breath.

He hadn't been aiming for Remus. Whatever he'd done, it hit Peter so hard he was knocked off his feet.

"Hey!" Both James and Sirius yelled, their wands out. But the two older boys had already turned and were jogging off, laughing.

Turning to Peter, Remus bent down beside him, just as his whole body convulsed and he wretched violently. Whatever he'd eaten for lunch splashed out onto the floor in front of him.

"Guys!" he called, just as Sirius and James were finally turning back.

"Did you hear what spell that git used?!" Sirius asked, outraged.

"It doesn't matter," Remus said as he carefully avoided the pool of vomit. "We need to take Peter to Madam Pomfrey." He was already trying to throw up again, light whimpers riding up through his throat.

"C'mon, Pete, we'll get you to the hospital wing," James said and helped Remus pull him to his feet. Careful to avoid being in the line of fire, they hauled him off down the corridor. They weren't as far as they could have been from the hospital wing, thank goodness, and Peter only puked twice more before they were carrying him in through the large doors.

"Why are you four always coming in here?" Madam Pomfrey asked as soon as they entered, already bustling over at the sight of Peter's pale, sweating face. "What happened?"

"Some Slytherins jinxed him!" Sirius said fiercely.

"Potter, get me that bucket there, against the wall," Pomfrey ordered as she helped Peter to sit up on the edge of the one of the beds. "There we go," she said as he came rushing back. "Hold it there for him so he's not getting sick all over himself, yes, there we are."

A bit pale in the face himself, James did his best to hold the bucket in place as Peter got sick once again, while Remus backed up to join Sirius.

"You poor dear. I think I've got something that will help you." She turned to Remus and Sirius. "You two, out."

"But—"

She cut Remus off. "I know the trouble you four get up to. Wait outside."

Slumping, both Sirius and Remus turned on their heels and marched back out. Just until they were outside the doors, so they could still see Peter and James.

"Why can't they just leave us alone?!" Sirius said loudly. Crouching down, he covered his face in his hands and growled. "I don't care about any of this Black family stuff!"

Which Remus knew wasn't true, but he figured that maybe Sirius just needed to be mad. Sometimes being mad and shouting helped, at least in his experience.

"I just want to hang out with my friends and not be worried about stupid Slytherins showing up all the time," he said, a little quieter now as he fell back on his butt. "I don't even know any of them…" Aside from his relatives, obviously.

"Maybe we should practice some jinxes and hexes, so we can blast them back," Remus said.

"Yeah, maybe…"

Remus looked down at him. "Sirius?"

"This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," Remus said simply, with a tone that was very hard to argue. "They started it. It's not their business that you're a Gryffindor—they just need to move on and stop taking it all so personally."

"They won't. I'm a 'Black,'" he said, very bitterly.

"You're not your family," Remus countered. "You're just Sirius."

Sirius met his gaze. "You think so?"

"Sure." He shrugged and looked away, back at James and Peter and Madam Pomfrey. "They're the thick ones, making such a big deal out of it. You should just ignore them."

"That'll make them _really_ mad."

"Good."

Sirius managed a small laugh. "Hey, Remus?"

"Hm?" Their eyes met again.

"I'm sorry they keep bringing up your scars."

Turning away a little too quickly, Remus pursed his lips and tried to push back on the redness that wanted to flood his face.

They were quiet for a minute.

"I think they're wicked, your scars," Sirius eventually admitted.

"You don't even know what they're from," Remus replied shortly.

"So what? They're cool. At least, I think so anyway."

Remus tapped the toe of his shoe against the floor. "Thanks," he muttered. Turning back to Sirius, he offered him a weak smile, which was returned full blast.

Sirius had such a big, bright smile…

"Alright, that's it!" James said as he finally joined them. He looked furious, his messy black hair more crazed than usual. "I'm tired of these prats. We have to do something." He slammed his hands together, to add impact to his words, probably.

"Like what?" Sirius asked from the floor.

"Like get back at them!" James made clear. "All of them! All the Slytherins! The whole house!"

Remus was skeptical. "How're we supposed to do that?"

"We'll think of something," James continued fiercely. "Something they'll never forget!"

"But it's like they said," Remus pointed out. "We can barely do levitation spells—what can we do to them?"

"That's true," James agreed, "but," he held up a knowing finger, "together, we almost got you all the way to the ceiling." Grinning, he leaned his hands down on his knees, all three of them bowing their heads in together. "If all four of us work together…"

"Two heads are better than one, so four definitely has to be worth something, right?" Sirius added.

"Exactly." James nodded firmly. "They'll regret ever messing with us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins. We'll have to wait and see how dangerous eleven-year-olds can be. 
> 
> PLEASE leave reviews guys, thanks!
> 
> And feel free to follow me on twitter - SKayLanphear.


	6. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

Planning revenge on the Slytherins was all well and good, but most of it ended up being theory because they weren't skilled enough to actually make anything a reality.

"There has to be something we can actually do to them," James was saying one Thursday morning as they were digging into breakfast in the great hall. The four of them were rather sequestered at one end of the long table, as their own house was growing only more and more annoyed with them. Not that any of them particularly cared. James was utterly immune to any sort of disapproval, Sirius was used to it, and Remus, frankly, had more important things to worry about. Only Peter was marginally bothered, but had at least stopped complaining. Not like he wasn't getting up to trouble too.

"There's got to be something we can do with the basic stuff we're learning," Sirius agreed, half a sausage sticking out of his mouth. "We just need to think really, really hard about it."

"But it can't be lame," Remus made clear, poking some at his own sausages. They'd be so much better if they weren't so… cooked. Maybe even a little bloody still. Ugh, he was getting close to the full moon again. "If we try to prank them and it's not the absolute worst, they'll just laugh it off. We need impact."

"Maybe we could—"

But before Peter could finish his thought, owls came swooping in with the morning mail. Looking up, they all waited, each of them receiving mail pretty regularly. Peter was eventually dropped a package of homemade snacks (they all appreciated his mother for this), while the other three received letters. They held them all up at once, "ho hoing" at their luck. They'd never all received mail on the _same_ day before.

Peeling the envelope of his letter, Remus quickly read through his mother's script while James' owl fluttered down in front of them and pecked away at the platter of food sitting between Remus and Sirius. It was just the regular update—she was telling him all about the book she'd read, how his father's work was going, the state of the back garden, and how she was still quite hooked on this Fleetwood Mac record released earlier in the month. Remus would have to have a listen when he got home for the holidays.

She finished with the promise of seeing him Monday, which made his stomach flip with nervous nausea. He'd be happy to see her, of course, but the reason why she'd be there…

"What is it?" James was asking as Remus looked up, all of them having noticed Sirius' very pale expression as he read through his own long letter.

"Just the normal stuff," he muttered, eventually folding the parchment closed again. "Mum's going on about my behavior and how much of a disappointment I'm becoming. My stupid cousins can't seem to keep their mouths shut. Still says I need to stop hanging around with you lot."

"Fat chance," James said, which earned him a smile from Sirius. "We're in this together now. Our names are dirt, even in our own house, but if we can manage to get really good revenge on the Slytherins…"

"Maybe other Gryffindors will like us?" Peter asked hopefully.

"It'll have to be good," Remus agreed.

They were headed off to class shortly after, taking a few lesser-used corridors so as to avoid any confrontations. They weren't afraid of the Slytherins, but they'd be even worse off than they already were if they started missing classes because of a trip to the hospital wing. Remus had enough of that to look forward to on his own.

Their luck didn't hold out the whole day, however. Just before dinner, someone landed James with a jelly-legs jinx. Which one of the older Gryffindors probably could have rectified, but the four of them were pretty well avoiding their own house as well as the Slytherins at that point, and so dragged James all the way to Madam Pomfrey.

"I don't think I've ever seen any students quite so regularly as you four," she said, easily undoing the jinx so James could catch his breath.

"We don't ask to be here," Sirius muttered.

Remus nodded in agreement.

Going to dinner was another failed affair, the four having to duck and run for safety just outside the great hall when a huge group of Slytherin second years started whipping out spells at them. Apparently it was very much in-fashion for literally any Slytherin to target them when no teachers were around to watch. And sometimes they did it in front of teachers anyway.

"I can't go without dinner," Peter griped, nearly on the verge of tears as they slumped in through the door to their own dormitory.

"We've got your snacks from your mum, at least," Sirius pointed out.

"I'm not going without dinner," Remus said stubbornly, fully on Peter's side in this. If there was anything Remus was passionate about, it was food. He like to eat. A lot. And with the full moon being so close, he was especially ravenous. And grouchy. He'd be even grumpier if he missed dinner.

"What are we supposed to do?" Sirius asked as he plopped down on the floor. "They're practically hunting us down."

"Maybe we should tell McGonagall," Peter suggested. "She could take us to the great hall, couldn't she?"

"I will not be made to look weak in front of my beloved Minerva," James cut in swiftly.

"I don't want to look weak in front of _anyone_ ," Remus added. "We're not going to McGonagall for help."

Peter wilted.

"I heard some older Hufflepuff kids talking the other day," Sirius said. "About the kitchens being somewhere around their dormitory. You think we can just go directly there and get food?"

"Maybe, but where is their dorm at?" James asked.

"Hmm, yeah, I don't know that," Sirius conceded.

Remus, however, was nothing if not determined when it came to dinner. "The food just appears in the great hall, so it has to be transported in, right? They wouldn't be doing that kind of big magic from way across the castle, so it has to be right near the great hall."

"Isn't the Hufflepuff dormitory downstairs?" Peter asked.

James hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe the kitchens are under the great hall?"

"Well, that doesn't help us," Sirius said. "The Slytherins are staking out the great hall. They'll see us coming again if we even get close."

James' eyes went wide. "Unless they _don't_ see us." Going quickly to his trunk, he yanked it open and started rummaging around, the other three watching curiously. He eventually turned back holding a long, shimmering cloak that had both Remus and Sirius gaping as they rushed over.

"Is that what I think it is?" Remus asked. Reaching out, he fingered the silky fabric, which was cool to the touch.

"My dad gave it to me before I left for Hogwarts, but I nearly forgot I had it," James explained.

"What is it?" Peter asked as he joined them.

"It's an invisibility cloak," Sirius said, still awed. "And a really nice one too! Who enchanted it?"

"No one—it's not a disillusionment charm or anything," James replied. "It's been passed down through my family for generations, so it's super, super old."

"It's the real deal, then," Sirius said.

"But it can't be that old," Remus countered, having read some about invisibility cloaks after Professor Flitwick had mentioned disillusionment charms. "If it's not charmed, then it has to be made from demiguise hair, and those kinds of cloaks turn opaque after a while."

James shrugged and, pulling the cloak out of their greedy fingers, swung it around over his shoulders. His body from the neck down immediately vanished. "It works, in any case."

"I can't believe you waited this long to tell us you had one of these," Sirius said.

"What's 'opaque' mean?" Peter asked, and was ignored.

"There should be enough room for all of us under here," James said as he spread the cloak open. "C'mon, let's go find some food before Peter passes out and Remus' head explodes."

They were able to crowd their little bodies quite easily under the cloak, especially after dropping their school bags. They also shed their standard black cloaks, instead keeping their wands in their pockets as they toed out their dormitory door. James was leader, Sirius and Peter crowding behind him, while Remus kept up a watch of the rear. Thankfully, most everyone was at dinner, so there was no one to avoid in their common room, nor out in the halls as they pushed their way through the portrait hole.

It was as they approached the great hall that they had to keep closer to the wall to avoid other people. Especially as they passed a group of Slytherins loitering around the entrance, looking particularly dangerous.

"There has to be a set of stairs around here somewhere," Sirius whispered. "Stairs that lead down."

"Just follow those two Hufflepuffs," Remus said. "They're leaving the great hall—maybe they're headed to their dormitory."

Supposing this was the best plan, they trailed behind the two girls and were readily satisfied when they ducked through a shallow doorway and led them straight down a set of stairs. Careful to be quiet, they eventually found themselves in a long, well-lit corridor lined with portraits of food and people eating.

"We must be in the right place, anyway, but now what?" James asked, all of them coming to a stop in the nearly empty hall as the two Hufflepuffs disappeared around a corner.

"Well, the great hall would be this way," Remus pointed down to their left. "So maybe…?"

"But I don't see any doors," Peter said.

Silent and disappointed, James eventually pulled them free of the cloak so they could investigate the hall more thoroughly, not too worried about Slytherins following them down here. Another few Hufflepuffs passed them by, but didn't cast them more than a cursory glance as they moved on to wherever their dormitory was.

"You think it's hidden?" Sirius asked after they'd all walked up and down the hall at least three times.

"It has to be," Remus determined, having taken to looking very closely at each of the paintings. "Maybe there's a switch or something…"

"That could take us an eternity to find," Peter lamented as he slid down the wall onto the floor.

Though he was determined, Remus had to agree. Which only made his rumbling stomach all the angrier.

"I just want dinner," he muttered to himself as he slid his hand down the side of a gold frame, inside which was a plump man eating a hearty beef dinner. The man watched Remus curiously, but wasn't too concerned with the state of the hungry children. "Is that really so much to ask?" Remus finished.

"Is Mr. Lupin requesting raw meats?" Jumping, Remus whipped around at the strange, high-pitched voice, his other friends jumping as well. Looking down, he spotted a short, leathery looking creature with huge, bat-like ears and a long, very skinny-tipped nose. Huge, round, blue eyes were set inside the creature's otherwise squashed face, and it appeared to be wearing a toga made of tea-towels. The Hogwarts crest was printed near the shoulder.

"A house elf!" James announced as he dashed over.

Oh, so that's what it was. Remus had never actually seen a house elf before.

"Headmaster Dumbledore said Mr. Lupin has special food requirements," the elf said, still watching Remus as his other friends circled around. "Has Mr. Lupin come for—"

"No, no, not that," Remus cut in quickly, his heart hiccupping in his chest. Crouching down in front of the elf, he tried to look friendly. "We're actually looking for the kitchens," he said honestly. "Could you show us how to get there, by chance?"

The elf frowned. "Students usually not bein' allowed in the kitchens, Mr. Lupin."

"We know," James cut in, "but, well, you see, some other kids are, well…" It appeared to hurt his pride, admitting the truth.

"They're not letting us in to eat," Peter whined pathetically. "And we're so hungry…"

"Yous is not eating tonight?" the elf asked, now looking very concerned. "But is almost October fourth. Mr. Lupin shouldn't be going without meals with so little time left. Mels has been put in charge of Mr. Lupin's special diet and is doing lots of research in the library. Mels knows. Mr. Lupin should be eating at every meal and in-between."

Flushing with red, Remus refused to meet the curious looks all his friends were giving him.

"So help us, then?" Remus asked. "Please?"

The elf deliberated, before nodding once in obvious determination. "No students—especially Mr. Lupin—should be going without meals. Come on now, Mels will feed you up. This way." Turning, the little elf tottered off down the hall, the boys all grinning before taking off after her. All but Sirius, who was still looking at Remus far too curiously.

So Remus ignored him.

The elf eventually stopped in front of a large portrait of a bowl of fruit. Reaching out, the elf tickled a pear with the tip of her finger, which had the pear giggling and wiggling around. The painting then swung open, revealing to the awed boys a passage leading in through the wall.

"Wow!" Peter said as they skirted inside, the painting closing up behind them. "Look! It really is the kitchens!"

The passage opened up into an enormous room that was at least the size of the great hall. The layout matched as well, with four long tables and a fifth that was likely situated right beneath the staff table. Pots and pans and other cooking utensils were stacked up on shelves that lined the walls, and at the far end was a great stone fireplace.

With dinner in full swing, dozens of house elves were bustling around, placing freshly prepared food on the tables and snapping their fingers, causing it all to disappear. To the great hall, no doubt, to refill the platters and plates being depleted by the students.

"This way," Mels said, continuing to lead them on. Doing their best to keep out of the way, the boys stayed close as they walked down the length of the room. A few of the elves gave them curious looks, but were far too concerned with their duties to give them much attention.

Once they reached the blazing fireplace, Mels snapped her fingers and a simple wooden table with four chairs surrounding it appeared out of thin air. "Yous be sitting here. Mels will fetch dinner."

"This is so great!" Peter said as they clambered up into the chairs. "I bet they'll get us whatever we want!"

"I'll eat whatever they already have ready," Remus said simply.

They didn't have to wait long, Mels tottering back followed by a troupe of other elves, all of them holding small platters of food to match what was being served in the great hall above. All but Mels herself, who was carrying a special plate laden with the same meats as the others, but whose contents were particularly raw looking.

Paling, Remus wished he could tell the elf "no, not now," but feared it was long too late for that.

"Excellent!" James said as the plates of food were pushed up onto their table.

"Aye, that's all raw though." Sirius was pointing to the plate in Mels' hand.

"This not for normal wizard boys," Mels said, sounding somewhat snobbish about it. "This for Mr. Lupin only."

His entire body was red with heat, Remus having absolutely no idea what to say or do as the plate was shoved up in front of him.

Sirius was gawping. "But that's raw! He can't eat that!"

"Mr. Lupin needs—"

"It's not actually raw," Remus interrupted, thankful when the house elf dutifully shut her mouth. "It—It just looks that way." Under the table, he did his best to wave Mels off, thankful that she didn't have the nerve to rebuff a lying werewolf boy. "It's just a special way of cooking it, that's all."

Peter, bless him, swallowed this excuse with a shrug and started digging into the other food. But both James and Sirius were still staring at him like he'd grown a second head.

"You know, like Japanese sushi," Remus continued to lie, his face getting redder by the second. "It's not actually raw, it's just… cooked… differently." He had no idea what else he could say. Or what other lie would suffice. Or if he was even right about sushi in the first place. Probably not.

He hated lying. Stupid Mels.

James and Sirius shared a look. "Alright…" James muttered, though he clearly wasn't convinced.

Sirius had turned back to him, his gray eyes narrowed as he gave Remus that same look he had that first day they'd met on the train—like Remus was some kind of super interesting bug in need of dissection.

Looking away, Remus stared down at his personal plate and said nothing more on the subject. They were quiet for a few seconds as a result, until James finally reached out and started gathering food for himself.

"What's sushi?" Sirius asked after another beat, Remus finally looking up to see that they'd taken their focus off him entirely. Or were appearing like they had. Remus knew better, of course, but he hoped this whole situation would fall under the "Things His Friends Knew Better Than to Ask About" category, which also included his scars and the few days he'd been sick earlier that month.

"Fish rolls, I think," James replied. "Never had it, personally."

They talked some about the virtues and vices of rice and fish in general after that, Remus staying silent as he piled other sorts of food in around the raw meat he'd been delivered, perhaps hoping that if he hid it, that'd make the others forget it was there. And maybe, if he didn't eat it at all, they'd think Mels was just crazy.

But… it also smelled so good. And he hadn't had anything close to raw meat since the last full moon. Maybe, if he was very careful about how he cut it and made sure not to let any sort of red-stained juices leak down his chin, he could just eat and be done with it. It was a little late to really cover it up now anyway, wasn't it?

He didn't know. Maybe it didn't matter either way, they were still going to be weirded out by him.

Sighing to himself, Remus stayed mostly quiet for the duration of their dinner, thankful that James and Sirius could carry conversation pretty well between each other. They were being quite loud, though, and a bit over-exuberant. He wondered if maybe they were instinctively trying to cover up the awkwardness his raw meal had inspired. Which was nice of them, even if they did think him strange for cutting a very pink looking pork filet into tiny pieces before tucking them very quickly into his mouth.

It tasted _so_ good though.

"We should make a map," Sirius was saying as he stuffed his own face with shepherd's pie. "Like, draw out all the places we go, since we take so many of the halls nobody else does."

"Yeah, that would help," Peter agreed. "Then I'd _never_ get lost trying to avoid Slytherins."

James hummed passionately through his food and swallowed as quickly as he could. "We should make a map of the whole school!" he blurted out.

The others stared at him curiously.

"I mean, look where we are now," he pointed out. "How many other students know how to get to the kitchens? Probably not many. Think about all the other secret rooms and hallways and stuff must be in the castle. We could find them all. I bet the house elves know some too—maybe we could get them to tell us."

"That'd take a _lot_ of time," Remus said quietly, finally daring to be part of the conversation. "The castle is huge anyway, and we'd have to look behind every portrait and statue and who knows what else."

"So what?" Sirius shrugged. "We could do it."

"No, Remus is right," James agreed, sounding a little down about it. "We need to plan this kind of stuff out properly. Right now, we need to be focused on revenge. Once we get that done, then we can work on the map."

"But we still have no ideas for the Slytherins," Peter pointed out.

"We just haven't been thinking hard enough," Sirius reasoned. Dropping his fork, he placed his fingers on his temples and closed his eyes. "We have to think outside the box."

"We don't even have the skills yet to work inside the box," James pointed out.

"But we can learn. We're not thick, after all." Sirius gestured out at them around the table. "No one beats Remus in charms—he picks everything up right away so far. And you're the best at defense, James, and flying. And everyone knows I'm the best in transfiguration. Pete's really good at herbology and he's only just behind Evans and Snivellus in potions."

"But it's all first year stuff," James said. "And it's only been the first month of school."

"Why are you being a ninny all of a sudden?" Sirius asked. "This was your idea."

"I'm not!" James glared at him. "But if we're going to actually do this, we have to be realistic. There's no point in coming up with a plan that none of us can actually make happen."

"Well, if we work on it."

"Of course we'll work on it," James said simply. "But we have to know what we're working on, don't we?"

"We need something that'll bother the whole Slytherin house," Sirius started, as he often did at mealtimes. "Something that we can do, but that's still potent. We need far-reaching side effects."

"And long-lasting side-effects," James added.

Mels had returned and was trying to present Remus with another filet. He tried to wave her down, but it didn't work. Thankfully, the other three pretended not to notice.

Oh well. The filet smelled so good anyway and he didn't often get raw meat. Best to just accept it and be grateful.

"It also has to be something the teachers can't fix right away," Sirius continued. "Something that's, like…"

"Elusive?" James didn't sound entirely sure.

"Yeah, I guess, maybe…" Sirius looked at James' cloak, which was hanging over the back of his chair. "Invisible, maybe?"

"Wait!" Remus interrupted very loudly. He'd been halfway through cutting into his new filet when the idea has struck him, his vaguely bloody knife clattering to his plate. "That's it! Invisible! And far-reaching!" His nostrils were flaring, which made the smell of the raw meat on his plate all the more potent to his hyper-sensitive senses. "Smell! Something that smells! Something that smells really, really, _really_ bad!"

Sirius didn't look convinced. "I don't know. Sounds kinda… weak."

"It's not!" Remus slammed his hands down on the table. "Haven't you ever smelled, like, something dead before?"

They were a little weirded out again.

"No, like a dead animal in the woods or something," Remus explained. "Especially after it rains. It's _so_ bad. Like, so bad I almost wanted to throw up." Actually, he'd almost passed out it'd hit him so severely, but he wasn't about to say that out loud. He'd been walking with his parents at the time and while they'd smelled it too, they hadn't reacted quite so poorly as he had. "And smells, they linger. If we got something bad enough, it could stay on their clothes and stuff forever."

"Oh, I like the sound of that," James agreed.

"But what could we use that smells bad enough?" Sirius asked. "Not like we can go scrounging around for… decaying animals in the woods."

Looking abruptly startled, Peter waved his arms around as he chewed as fast as he could and swallowed.

"There's a flower!" he eventually choked out. "I don't remember what it's called, but I heard Slughorn talking to Sprout about it after class one time. They were saying how it smelled so bad they had to put wards around it. Slughorn said it smelled like absolute death, but was good for some potion I can't remember."

"No, look." Sirius still wasn't on board. "This is _weak_. What are we going to do, stick flowers in the Slytherin common room? Yeah, right."

The other three were thoughtful.

"What if they weren't flowers, though?" Remus asked.

"Like… what if we turned them into something else?" Sirius asked. "But wouldn't that mess up the smell?"

James tapped his fingers on the table. "But maybe not? When we were messing up with those matches in class, we sometimes left the tips when they became needles. What if we could turn everything _but_ the smell?"

"Turn them into something small," Remus explained. "Something that we could hide easier, so the smell would still be bad, but it'd be harder to figure out where it was coming from."

"But none of us can do that," Sirius reasoned. "James, you just said we had to think within our abilities, right?"

"Potential abilities," James corrected. "You're the best at transfiguration, Sirius. And we're supposed to be learning to turn mice into snuffboxes after Christmas. It can't be that much harder to transform a flower."

"Wait, me?" Sirius asked.

"You just said you're the best between the four of us," Remus agreed.

"Yeah, but… I don't know how to single out a smell!"

"So figure it out," James reasoned.

"What am I supposed to be turning them into?!"

"Something small," Remus repeated. "Something they won't suspect. Something like…"

Sirius' expression brightened. "I saw a second year trying to turn a beetle into a button in the common room. If a second year can do it, then it can't be that much more advanced than what we're learning. If we just nick one of their textbooks…"

"Buttons would be good," Remus agreed.

"Yeah!" James leaned forward intently. "Then we could hide them around their common room and in their dorms and—"

"Guys, wait," Peter interrupted, though he looked pretty excited himself. "We'd have to get the flowers first. I think Sprout would notice if a whole bunch of her flowers were transfigured into buttons."

"That's true," Sirius agreed. "We don't want to be caught—that'd ruin everything."

"What if… What if we just transferred the smell?" James said slowly, the gears turning behind his eyes. "My mum, she does this thing with the flowers behind our house. She takes these little, like, enchanted packets and does this charm that takes the smell of the flowers and puts it in the packet. And then she puts the packets around the house."

"That would work!" Sirius said. "I could transfigure the packets. What are they?"

"I'm not sure. My mum calls them air fresheners. I think whatever is in the packets sort of… keeps the smell? Or makes it last longer? I'll have to write her and ask."

"Okay, so if we use those and then I transfigure them into something that's not suspicious…" Sirius muttered.

"But we don't know the enchantment to get the smell from the flowers to the packets," Peter pointed out.

"I bet my mum could teach me over Christmas," James said. "I'll just tell her you lot smell so bad that I want to freshen up the dorm. She won't ask questions."

"Great! So! Peter," Sirius turned to him, "you need to figure out what that flower is and which greenhouse it's in." Peter was suddenly nervous. "You'll have to be really good in potions and herbology so Slughorn and Sprout start liking you better. Then you'll be able to ask them questions about, you know, 'other stuff.'"

"You guys are the ones who always start me getting into trouble!" Peter hissed.

"Then we'll have to stop," James said very gravely. "At least in those classes. Or Peter will need to sit somewhere else away from us."

"Right. So then, James, you'll learn the smell charm from your mum," Sirius continued. "And then once we have the packets, I'll transfigure them into buttons."

"Why not just leave them as packets?" Peter asked.

"Because then they'll be easy to find," Remus explained. "If they're buttons—specifically, like, buttons that are similar to the ones on the Slytherin robes—then they're not going to figure our right away where the smell is coming from."

"We could even use a permanent sticking charm to, like, stick them to their shoes and on their cloaks and under their beds and—"

Remus interrupted Sirius. "We don't know how to do a permanent sticking charm."

"You could learn how to do it," Sirius pointed out. "You're good at charms. And if James has to learn the smell charm."

Remus nodded, supposing that was possible.

"Okay, but how are we going to put these buttons anywhere in the first place?" Peter asked. "You guys are talking about getting into their dorms and stuff."

"We sneak in, obviously," James said and pointed back at his cloak.

"Oh…"

"I don't know…" Remus frowned. "Even if we did sneak in, they'd hear us casting the sticking charm and whatnot. Or levitating the buttons around. Even if we waited until they all went to bed, I'm afraid we'd wake them up."

"We don't _have_ to say the incantations," Sirius muttered.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"Don't you cast sticking charms before you stick things?" Sirius asked. "Like, you could cast it on the buttons before we even went to their dormitory."

Remus raised his eyebrows. That was true.

"But even then, we're limited to places we can reach," James said. "At least in their dorms where they're sleeping. It'd be a lot easier if we could levitate stuff. Then we could spread them around their dorm rooms a lot faster and stick them up under their beds and in their bed curtains. We won't be able to do all that by hand."

"But they'll hear us," Remus repeated.

"Well, when Sirius said we don't _have_ to use the incantations, I thought…" James nodded knowingly.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Well, you know, wordless magic."

"That's something we don't learn until sixth or seventh year," Remus said shortly.

"Well, not really," James replied. "Kids do accidental magic without words or wands all the time. You could probably learn how to levitate stuff without words."

"Me?!" Remus squawked.

"You're the best at levitation!"

"I can't learn how to do wordless magic, James. I'm eleven!" And he had to learn the sticking charm too!

"It was just an idea…" James muttered.

"We'll just have to make do without," Sirius decided. "We'll have to whisper really quietly, I guess."

"But if the smell is that bad, won't it wake them up the moment we get there?" Peter asked.

"I think I'll be able to turn it on and off," James reasoned. "My dad is always turning my mum's fresheners off. I hear her muttering about it when she goes around the house turning them back on. We could set it up and then turn them all on before we leave."

Remus wasn't convinced. "Does she turn them all on at once or one by one?"

"Oh…" James hummed and stared down at the table, the crease between his eyebrows very pronounced.

"Maybe we could link them all together?" Sirius asked.

"I'll ask my mum about that too," James decided. "But we'll have to do some research into it."

"Okay, so, here's the plan for now," Sirius said. "Peter, you need to get on Sprout and Slughorn's good side so we can learn more about these flowers and maybe figure out where they're being kept. James, you need to learn the smell charm from your mum, as well as how to turn it on and off and _maybe_ about linking it all together?"

"I'll write her and she can send me directions," James decided. "Then I don't have to wait until Christmas to try and practice."

"Good idea. Have her send one of the smell packets too, so I can practice on it." Sirius turned to Remus. "You'll have to learn the sticking charm, but I don't know where you'll find out how."

"I bet it's in the library somewhere," Remus said.

"And maybe wordless levitation?" James asked and Remus glared at him.

"And I need to start working on buttons," Sirius finished.

"We can do this," James said. "If we all do our part, then it'll come together. I know it."

"And those Slytherins will get what they deserve," Sirius said darkly.

Remus grinned. "You better get good at making buttons, Sirius. We're going to need a lot of them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are coming together, but things are also coming undone. Poor Remus. I know that it happened in second year that the boys found out about him in the canon, BUT given the intellect I've given these boys, it seems unlikely that they wouldn't figure it out sooner (spoiler, I guess). 
> 
> ANYWAY! Hope you guys are enjoying. I'm not really getting much feedback so it's hard to know, but I like this story so hopefully you guys are enjoying it too! PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! THANKS! Like, really, I'm begging, I'm groveling. I need the validation to survive. 
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on twitter--SKayLanphear


	7. Year One

**REMUS LUPIN**

It was all well and good to have a plan, but doing the work in order to make that plan possible was another issue entirely. Especially when they also had their normal studies to contend with.

And for Remus, well, he had his _other_ problem to consider on top of everything else. The October fourth full moon fell on a Monday, just four days after they'd hatched their plan in the bowels of the castle. And he was, unfortunately, more nervous this time than he had been before.

Not because of the shack or even the damage the wolf was liable to do to him, but because he had to come up with some kind of excuse to give his friends for heading off alone. In the month since they'd come to Hogwarts, the boys had become mostly inseparable. They had all their classes together, all the same homework, the same dorm, the same "plans." They spent every moment together. But, worse yet, they had no reason to spend any time apart. Especially since James had created a schedule for them all—he was, apparently, a very organized young man despite his seemingly lackadaisical attitude.

They couldn't let their studies fall behind (hopefully) and so James had allotted specific times for studying during the week, for doing their research, for practicing their spells. And even if Remus did want to go to the library on his own during some of the time they had for "leisure" (James' word), he was certain the others would want to tag along.

Especially Sirius, who'd been more stuck on him than usual for some reason.

But it was a full moon and he had exactly five minutes before he had to leave for the hospital wing. They were all in the dormitory doing a bit of homework before dinner. He could lie and say he'd left something in their last class and was just running out to get it, but they'd definitely be worried when he didn't come back. Besides, Sirius would probably tag along. Remus could barely use the loo on his own these last few days.

No, he'd have to come up with something that would excuse him the whole night and probably the following day. Which was… impossible. Aside from the same excuse as last time—that he was ill. Which he hadn't really wanted to use more than once. At least, not consecutively. Because that would definitely be weird.

But maybe he'd just have to settle for being "sickly" and in hospital once a month. When it inevitably became a regular thing, his friends would get used to it. It was just getting over that initial hump of suspicion, really.

"Remus?"

Startled, Remus looked down from where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed. It was Sirius who'd said his name, the other boy sitting on the floor doing his homework. He liked to spread his papers out all around him and take up much more space than was really necessary, which was why he preferred the floor.

"What?" Remus squeaked out.

"You okay?" Sirius asked. "You look kinda… peaky."

Peter looked up from his own bed. "Yeah, you've seemed kinda pale all day."

"I'm fine," Remus snapped harshly. Too harshly, his friends shying back a bit. He'd been pretty short-tempered in general these last few days—as always when he was this "close." "Sorry," he muttered. "I'm just… not feeling great, is all." Pushing himself off his bed, he looked anywhere but at their expectant faces as he straightened his robes. "I'm gonna go see Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius was on his feet in a flash. "I'll go with you!"

"No!" Remus hadn't meant to shout. Standing steady, he forced himself to take a deep breath. "Just… stay here, okay? I want to go alone."

"But—"

"Lay off!" he snapped. "Stop hovering! We don't have to do every single thing together!"

"But if you're sick, Remus—" James objected.

"I'm not sick! I'm…" He huffed and headed across the room to the door.

"Then why are you—"

"Just mind your own business, Sirius!" Remus had turned on him, his voice carrying loudly across the room. "You guys are so nosy all the time! Leave me alone!"

They finally fell silent, each of them looking as equally hurt as they were baffled.

Sighing, Remus again tried to steady his temper. "I'm going," he said and turned back to the door. He paused just before pulling it open. "I'll… see you guys tomorrow, maybe."

Not giving them the chance to question, he hurried out the door and down the stairs. Through the common room to the portrait hole and out into the hall. He was practically running once he was in the hall, his whole body abuzz with nerves and energy that he could physically feel snapping inside him. The wolf was there, was waiting—was anxious to get loose.

Though he'd sprinted almost all the way across the castle, he was hardly winded as he finally arrived at the hospital wing. McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and his parents were already there, the four of them standing about in the center of the room like it was all perfectly normal.

The sight of them made Remus very mad.

"You're late, Mr. Lupin," Madam Pomfrey said upon spotting him.

"Sorry," he said sullenly. "I had to yell at my friends before they let me leave." He said it very accusingly, like it was everyone else's fault. He wanted them to know how frustrating it was, having to lie. Having to run. Just so they'd feel bad, which they did. He could see it on their faces.

"Potter, Black, and Pettigrew can be excessively stubborn and persistent," McGonagall acknowledged.

Remus glared at her especially, just because he could, and she raised her eyebrows at him, but didn't say anything.

"Someone is especially grumpy tonight," his mother observed nonchalantly, as Madam Pomfrey escorted Remus to a bed so he could sit down for his checkup.

"You'd be grumpy too…" Remus muttered, doing very little to be accommodating of Madam Pomfrey's ministrations.

"Straighten up, Remus. You're slouching," his father scolded.

Remus did _not_ and glared at him instead.

"He seems to be in fit enough condition despite his sour attitude," Madam Pomfrey eventually announced. "Though how he'll come back to us…"

Ignoring her, Remus hopped back down to the floor and practically stomped over to his mother. Once there, he stared very hard up at her.

"Your friends will forgive you yelling, love," she assured gently and slid her hand in through his hair. "You'll see. There's no need to fret over it."

Still upset, Remus stepped forward and stiffly shoved his face into his mother's chest. She immediately wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight, and he did his best to pretend he was at home where only his parents were watching him. He didn't like all these eyes on him, or the full moon, or that he'd had to lie to his friends, or that soon he'd have to march his way out into the dark to spend the night all alone in a form of himself that was always so frustrated and so angry.

But, as always, he didn't have a choice.

"It'll be alright, Remus," his father murmured, his hand resting gently on his back. "We'll be here when it's over."

Knowing what those words meant—that he couldn't waste any more time—Remus said nothing, but pulled away. Refusing to meet anyone's eyes, he moved back to Madam Pomfrey, who placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him toward the door.

They made their way swiftly through the castle and onto the grounds, then beneath the whomping willow, and finally into the dark, dingy room in the shack. Madam Pomfrey tried to offer him a few kind words, but the blood was pumping so loudly in Remus' ears that he barely heard.

The night went much the same as it had the month before—painful, lonely, frustrating, and bloody. He was in no state to do anything when it was over, which left him barely conscious enough to get dressed before Madam Pomfrey was whisking him away to the hospital wing.

When he finally woke up, it was to the sound of soft voices against a steady stream of afternoon sunlight.

"The idea is concerning." It was his father speaking, Remus deciding to keep his eyes closed, one, because that was just easier at the moment, but, two, so as to keep listening. "If they were to find out, even by accident…"

"I doubt it will be an accident," McGonagall said, sounding very defeated. "Those boys, they're certainly troublemakers, but they're also incredibly gifted. Too smart, I think, given their mischievous tendencies. And they're on each other like glue all the time. I've been watching them, naturally, for Remus' sake, and I think the longest they're ever apart is when Remus is here."

"Is that normal?" his mother asked.

"Well, in the advent of being away from home for so long, the children will naturally group up quite quickly. But these four are rather exceptional. Apparently they met on the train, before they'd even been sorted. They marched into the great hall already holding on to one another's shoulders, your son no exception. They're, well…" McGonagall cleared her throat. "While it may be an insensitive use of words, it's almost as though they've 'packed up,' so to speak. And the situation with the Black boy has only made their attachment that much more significant. Black faces harassment from many members of Slytherin house on a regular basis, and so the other three often receive the brunt of this bullying. We're trying to keep an eye on it, but the boys themselves are incredibly elusive about the situation."

"It's the Black boy that concerns me the most," his father said staunchly. "The Black family are not… tolerant people. If Black were to find out the truth and go telling his family… It would destroy any chance Remus has at Hogwarts and at a future."

"Because… Because you didn't register him?" McGonagall asked softly.

Lyall cleared his throat. "Of course not."

McGonagall hummed. "Mr. Black appears to be at odds with what his family expects of him. While I can't guarantee that he would keep quiet if he found out, I'm not entirely sure it's fair to assume he would say anything to anyone either."

"He's heir to House Black…" Lyall was incredibly doubtful.

"Who has befriended a pureblooded blood-traitor and two half-bloods, one that he knows has a muggle mother," McGonagall pointed out. "That in itself is quite exceptional given how he was certainly raised."

"Befriended them for now," Lyall rebuked. "They're young—there's no telling who they may turn out to be."

"But, if it really is dangerous, then shouldn't we take Remus out of school?" his mother asked. It was a question that had Remus' blood going cold. "If he's homeschooled, then he'd still be able to go on to live a more normal life than if someone were to expose him, yes?"

"I don't know…" Lyall admitted.

"Remus is very bright," McGonagall said. "While I'm sure you're more than capable, Mr. Lupin, of educating him, it would be an incredible pity for him to miss out on the opportunities provided here. And if I would be so bold, I would imagine he would react very poorly to being pulled from school. He's very… protective, of his friends."

"How do you mean?" Lyall asked, his voice somewhat guarded.

"He is often willing to put himself in harm's way in order to ensure not just their safety, but their success. While I think Potter and Black are the head troublemakers of their little group, Remus is often the one leading them about. I don't know that they realize it themselves, but they follow him around like little ducks. And though Potter does seem to take over at a moment's notice, I think it's only because Remus, well, allows it."

There was a momentary silence before Lyall spoke again.

"He's not… pushing them too hard, or dominating them, is he?" he asked warily.

"No, I wouldn't say so. I've done some reading myself on how… lycanthropes have been observed interacting with others. While Remus can be a bit snappish with both his friends and others, he generally appears content to let them be. I can't claim to know how they interact with one another personally, but he doesn't seem altogether interested in dictating their behavior."

"But that could change as he gets older, couldn't it?" his mother asked. "Once he reaches puberty?"

"There's really not enough research to know for certain," Lyall admitted. "Perhaps we'll have to talk with him about it. Just so he understands."

"Then you're going to allow him to stay?" McGongall asked.

"For now. While I'm troubled at the idea of Black potentially finding out the truth, I doubt any of them suspect at this point. He's only been here a month—most children, I think, would accept that he's frequently ill and move on, yes?"

McGonagall "hmmed." "Most children, yes," she agreed. "Though, if I were to be exhaustively honest, I wouldn't be surprised if both Potter and Black already suspect something else to be amiss. They're… very clever."

Lyall sighed.

"It'll be alright," his mother said softly. "Let's not assume the worst yet. While I realize Remus has been getting into a bit of trouble, he seems to be enjoying himself. I would hate to ruin that."

"A good time cannot substitute his future," Lyall reasoned.

"He's never had friends before," his mother soothed. "Let him be just a while longer."

Nothing else was said after that, Remus continuing to act as though he'd been asleep the whole time, as his parents returned to his bedside. After some twenty more minutes, he finally got up the energy to open his eyes and sit up. He ate lunch, did some school work, and told his parents only what was safe about his last month at school.

He did his very best to talk up his friends. Especially Sirius.

"You brought the books, right?" Remus asked his mother at one point.

"Yes. Professor McGonagall took them to your dormitory."

"Sirius will be really glad to get a look at them," Remus explained. "He's really interested in science. Anything to do with muggles, actually. He's been reading my Tolkien books too."

"And his family is alright with that?" Lyall asked.

"I don't think he mentions it to them," Remus said and shrugged. "Sirius' mum is quite angry with him, from what he says about her letters. I don't think he's ever once written her back the whole time he's been here."

"Hm, interesting," was all his father had said in response.

He took another nap shortly after and woke up just before evening to the clatter of familiar young voices and the smell of his friends, which was so, so different to that of his parents, but just as good, he thought.

"We know he's here," James was saying. "Why can't we see him?"

"Because he's resting and you three will not help in his recovery," Madam Pomfrey said simply.

"Come now, Poppy," James "flirted." "Can't we come to some sort of arrangement here? Have I ever told you how lovely you look in red? Because you—"

"Professor McGonagall has warned me about your developing 'charms,' Mr. Potter, so best to stop now before you dig yourself into a hole, hm?"

"We just wanna check that he's okay," Sirius cut in. "Why's that such a big deal?"

"Why can't you trust me to look after him, Mr. Black?"

"That's not… what I meant…"

"He's our friend," Peter said, sounding very pathetic. "We're just worried is all."

"You needn't be. He'll be returned to regular lessons soon enough. Now, off you go, there we are."

He ended up staying that one last night in the hospital wing and was released the following morning with strict instructions to go straight to his dormitory and rest. The timing had been very specific in that classes had already started, so he was very much alone when he reached Gryffindor Tower, just after saying farewell to his parents.

He laughed upon making it to the first year dormitory, as his friends had already been flipping through the science books McGonagall had brought up and they were now strewn about the floor. Leaving them where they lay, he went to his bed and laid down, where he practiced levitating various things in the room for about an hour, before the strain had him falling back asleep.

He was woken up by Mels for lunch, which he ate in bed, before starting back on the lessons he'd missed until his friends eventually came tumbling in through the door.

"Remus!" James and Peter said upon spotting him, while Sirius released a thousand-watt smile.

Remus managed a small grin of his own.

"We were just at Madam Pomfrey's and she said you were supposed to be here," James explained as they crowded around his bed. "Which is probably good, because we'd hatched a plan if she still refused to let us visit you."

"We were gonna jinx Sirius to distract her so James and I could sneak in past the curtains," Peter explained.

"I figured I could take a hit, you know, since I'm the only one the Slytherins haven't gotten yet," Sirius said, sounding very brave despite the fact that the Slytherins made a point of purposefully _not_ hitting him.

"She'd probably have pulled you out by your ears, then," Remus replied, already feeling better having them there.

"I'm kinda disappointed we didn't get to do it, though," Sirius admitted. "I was hoping that maybe if these two snuck in, Madam Pomfrey would give up and then we'd get to meet your mum."

"My mum?"

"Yeah!" Sirius face lit up again. "Cuz she's a muggle and all."

"How'd you even know my mum was there?" Remus said.

"Wasn't she?" James asked. "I guess we just figured, you know, because before…"

Swallowing hard, Remus looked down and picked at his pants.

"What is it?" James asked slowly, after there'd been a heavy silence. "What's wrong with you, that is?"

"I just get sick sometimes," Remus said and shrugged one shoulder. "It's not as bad as it seems. I just get… really tired and have a fever and stuff. And my parents worry."

"So this happens… a lot?" Sirius asked.

"Um, yeah, I guess it does…"

"But you're okay?" Peter asked.

Remus finally looked up at them again and smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

They watched him, obviously still concerned, and Sirius even opened his mouth to say something more, but then James reached out and hit him in the stomach, causing him to cough instead.

"Well, if you say so," James reasoned. "But… you do know you can tell us, right? If something's really wrong? Like, you _will_ tell us, if you're actually… dying? Or something?"

"I'm not dying," Remus assured.

"Really?" Peter asked.

"I promise."

This did relieve them some.

"You guys worry too much," Remus said, mostly in an attempt to lighten the mood. Which seemed to work well enough with James and Peter, who grinned at his words. Sirius, on the other hand, frowned.

"You're pale, shivering, and look like you haven't slept in weeks," he snapped. "Why wouldn't we worry?"

"Sirius…" James muttered tightly.

"And what's wrong with your hands?" Sirius went on and reached down as though he might grab one. Remus pulled his hands back before he could, doing his best to shield them inside his robes. "They're covered in bandages!"

The wolf had been gnawing on his feet during the full moon.

"I fell and hurt my hands, alright?" Remus lied. "You'd fall down a lot too, if you got sick like I do…" No point in deflecting being ill anymore, so might as well use it to his advantage.

Sirius blinked, his expression softening some. "Oh…"

Drawing attention, James cleared his throat. "Anyway. Now that you're back, Remus, do you want to do homework with us or aren't you up for it?"

"I can do it," Remus said, more than happy to move on to another subject.

"Can we do the astronomy charts?" Peter asked. "I'm having a really hard time with the new equation and I can't find anything right."

"Yeah, let's do that," Remus agreed. "I haven't even started mine."

"Me neither," James added.

"I'm halfway done," Sirius said, sounding a little too smug.

"You're always ahead on charts," James said, reaching out to poke him. Which had Sirius buckling in the middle, a smile on his face. "Not all of us have been 'studying the stars' since we were three years old."

"Thank goodness for that," Peter said.

"Yeah, I was too busy playing and being normal to bother with stars at that age," Remus added.

"The Blacks have very high expectations," Sirius said, though he wasn't the least bit happy about it.

"Good thing you're failing all of them, then," James added, which brought a smile back to Sirius' face. "So! Star charts! Who has the map?"

Since they couldn't always go use the telescopes, their professor provided a large map of the section of sky they were studying, two to each house—one to the girls and one to the boys. It was why Remus couldn't do his astronomy while in hospital.

"I've got it!" Peter said and turned to jog over to his bed. The other two moved to gather their astronomy things as well, Remus reaching over to his nightstand for his own.

"Ah, should I just lay it out on the floor?" Peter asked as he pulled out the folded map, which was quite large once it was opened fully.

Remus didn't miss how both Sirius and James looked his way, specifically at his bed. So he cut in before they could.

"Yeah, that's fine, Pete. Nowhere else to put it, really." Sliding to the edge of his bed, Remus ignored the way his friends kept watching him in favor of acting like everything was perfectly normal. He didn't want them hovering or thinking he was weak. Determined, he kept his breath steady as he stood, ignored the nausea that assaulted him at having moved so quickly after being in bed so long, and hid the way his hands trembled.

"Lay it out here," James directed to Peter, though both he and Sirius kept double-checking back on Remus. Which only made him more stubborn.

Shuffling to the end of his bed, Remus refused to even take hold of his bed's corner post, instead forcing himself to stand straighter as he watched them. He blinked back against the dizziness in his head and swallowed the weakness rising up through his throat.

"Yeah, that's good," James said, once the map was laid out flat in the middle of their dormitory. "Between the four of us, we should get this knocked out in—"

"James!"

As if they'd been expecting it the whole time, Sirius' call had James hurtling to Remus' side in tandem with the other boy, both of them catching him by the arms as Remus buckled forward off his feet, eyes rolling. His empty charts and textbook slid from his hands and plopped heavily onto the carpet.

"Put him back on the bed," James ordered, the two of them doing their best to slide Remus onto the mattress as Peter rushed forward and hauled up his feet. Breathing hard and feeling the sweat that was already beading under his robes, Remus closed his eyes and tried to get himself back under control.

He'd managed to walk all the way back from the hospital wing, though he had been forced to rest quite a few times.

Why couldn't he just bounce back faster?

"He feels pretty hot," James said above him, having laid a hand on his forehead and his cheek. "Maybe… Maybe he needs to go back to the hospital wing?"

"Do you think we can carry him there?" Sirius asked. "Or should we get McGon—"

"I don't need to go back to the hospital wing," Remus snapped between breaths, even managing to wave the others off him. "I'll be fine."

"You don't look fine," Sirius challenged.

"What do you know?!" Remus said somewhat harshly. "I've been dealing with this since I was five—I think I know what to do!"

Reasoning that quieted the other three. They still remained at his bedside, however, hovering over him until Remus finally scowled and waved them off again. Sirius looked mighty angry, Peter nervous, and James just concerned, but they removed themselves back to their work.

Deciding it was better to just lie in bed after a display like that, Remus turned onto his side and listened as they whispered about their homework. Tension pervaded the room nonetheless, Remus feeling like he was inside a very obvious bubble that the others were worried would pop if they talked too loudly. But he also didn't know what to do about it.

Staying silent, he curled up and focused on pushing the nausea out of his system. This didn't entirely steal his focus, but it kept him preoccupied long enough for him to fade a bit into sleep. Nothing deep—he could still hear them whispering—but enough to calm his nerves. Even as one particularly bad wound on his chest throbbed alongside the bites on his fingers.

He was startled some when James eventually came over and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "Sirius and Peter went to fetch dinner," he said softly. "They'll bring something back for us two."

Swallowing hard at the sudden, unexplainable emotion that welled in his throat, Remus croaked out his thanks.

He was aware of the way James watched him for a little while longer, before the other boy walked away again. Remus didn't turn to watch him, but could hear him shuffling around the room. Pulling on things, pushing on things. Until, finally, Remus bothered to look over his shoulder to see what he was up to.

Just in time to watch him shove Sirius' still-sheeted mattress off his bed onto the floor. Where he'd also dumped both his own and Peter's mattresses as well.

Turning over, Remus watched him for a while longer before deciding to question. "What are you doing?" he asked, as James got down and slid the mattresses around until they were pushed up at the footboards of both his and Sirius' bed.

"You need to be able to do your star chart too," he said, as if that explained anything.

"Yeah, but…" Remus still didn't know what he was doing.

Not that James bothered to explain any further. Instead, he stood and surveyed his work a moment, before going back to the beds where he'd dumped all the pillows, comforters, and spare sheets. Dragging it all over to the mattresses, he threw the linens haphazardly around at the edges leaning up against the four posters, before grabbing up the star map he'd refolded and spreading it out across at the otherwise unused space.

He then walked straight up to Remus.

"Come on!" he said, smiling. "Once you're down there, I'll add your mattress too, and all your pillows and stuff."

"But…" Remus didn't actually have an objection. He was rather too stunned that James had bothered to go to all this effort just so he could… join them? On the floor? Comfortably?

"It's kind of like a pillow fort, yeah? I used to make them all the time at home. Except that my dad would also make a tent, but I don't think we could do that here…" He looked back, like he was considering it, before he turned to Remus again with a shrug. "We don't have any chairs in here, so it's not really possible."

It _was_ possible—they _were_ wizards after all—but perhaps not worth putting that much thought into.

"It'll be better if we change into pajamas first, also," James said, like it was an obvious prerequisite.

"Yeah, that's true," Remus agreed, just because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Bracing himself, Remus took a deep breath before shoving himself to the edge of his own bed and slipping shakily to his feet. He accidentally pulled wrong on the wound on his chest and flinched, which had James hovering very close.

"I'm okay," he assured, unable to meet James' worried gaze. "Um, can you get me my pajamas? Out of that fourth drawer?"

"Sure!" Dashing over to Remus' dresser against the wall, James quickly pulled out a set of worn navy pajamas. He then went to Remus' top drawer and retrieved a pair of socks.

Because Remus always wore socks.

"Thanks," Remus said and tried to reach out for his clothes, but James grabbed him gently by the arm instead.

"I'll help you get there," he said.

"I _can_ walk, you know."

"Prove it, then."

Scoffing, Remus pursed his lips, but supposed he didn't have much choice. Pulling up as best he could what strength wasn't being taken up by nausea or pain, he slowly shuffled his way to the washroom, James staying attached at his side the whole time. It was only once they reached the washroom that James set Remus' clothes on the sink and left him, making sure to close the door.

Bracing himself on the sink, Remus very slowly stripped down. He checked his bandages in the mirror, just to make sure he hadn't accidentally reopened the bad gash on his chest, before he slipped into his pajamas and socks. He then splashed his face with water, which reinvigorated him enough to move back out into the main room.

James was in his nightly tank top and boxers now as well, and had added Remus' own mattress to the others. He'd even set up his wolf between Ugo and Peter's niffler (he'd still staunchly refused to send home for his dinosaur). Sitting amongst the pillows and blankets, he was looking up from his star chart as Remus appeared from the bathroom, his quill tip held between his teeth.

Deciding to drop his dirty clothes by the washroom door, Remus shuffled out and did his best not to flinch again as he crouched down to crawl onto the mattresses.

"I have your stuff here," James said as Remus made his way over. "Figured you could copy up to where we are before the others get back."

Remus nodded and, with a deep breath, settled down beside James, who'd taken up a spot leaning against the footboard of his own four-poster. He'd put an entire comforter and two pillows against it as well, leaving enough space for Remus to lean back into the soft fabric.

"Here, we've gotten this far," James explained, the two of them knocking knees as they started work on filling in the sections of Remus' chart that the other three had already gotten too. He was just about caught up when the door to their dormitory swung open, the other two returning with three bulging bags under their robes.

"Oh! Cool!" Sirius said as he spotted them. "Pillow fort!"

"Well, more like mattress fort," James corrected, but it hardly seemed an important distinction.

"We stole some plates too," Peter said, pulling the dishes out from where he'd been hiding them in his robes. Setting them down, he and Sirius dropped the bags of food as well, the smell from which started Remus' stomach growling despite his nausea.

"I'll unload the food while your guys change," James said and slid forward on the mattress.

Leaning back against the footboard, Remus watched him as he set out the plates and stacked them up with food. Anything that was packaged or dry he dumped out onto the sheets, shoving it all closer to where Remus sat, once he was satisfied. The other two joined them at about the same time, Peter in his normal sweat pants and t-shirt, while Sirius donned only a pair of slacks. They were all quite accustomed to his shirtless habits.

"Now, this is how we should always do astronomy homework," Sirius said as he plopped down on the mattress beside Remus, on the other side from where James had retaken his previous seat. Peter crawled into place on James' other side and, once settled, they started picking away at their dinner. Remus decided that maybe he didn't mind so much asking the others to get him what he wanted so he could stay leaning back against the footboard, and was thankful when James and Sirius kept their food fighting to a manageable level.

It took a little longer to get back to their homework, what with all the laughing and crumbs in the way, but they did eventually get to it. Sirius and Peter were the ones that got up to coordinate the stars they were looking for on the map, while Remus and James focused down on one single chart, their heads bent together with James' arm around Remus' shoulders as they filled in the answers. It took a long time, as astronomy homework tended to do, but when they were finally finished—with everyone else having copied all the answers down onto their own charts—Remus found himself wondering if maybe astronomy homework had been made to be done in one big group from the start.

Once finished, they ended up back where they'd been at dinner: laughing and messing around, Remus doing his best to participate despite how tired he was. By the time Sirius was trying to teach Peter how to do a standing backflip off the edge of the farthest mattress, Remus had slumped into laying down, his lashes heavy as he watched. James had slid down beside him and was shouting out suggestions as Peter tittered and generally didn't make any attempt to even try flipping himself backward.

Sirius had done it at least half a dozen times, mostly to show off, Remus figured. He certainly wasn't a very good teacher.

It was only as he was really beginning to nod off that Remus realized James' arm was still around his shoulders, which made it so he was leaning in closer to the other boy as he drifted in and out. He didn't mind so much, though. Not even when his head ended up leaning into James' side.

The last thing he thought of, before he dozed off completely, was that James probably would have made a pretty good older brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of subtle stuff going on here. We're beginning to get on to the more exciting parts of this story, seeing as the boys' friendships have been more fully established. 
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying and PLEASE leave reviews!
> 
> Also, feel free to follow me on tumblr--SKayLanphear.


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